Malaysian Poetry in English Malchin Testament by Salleh Ben Joned

Narrative style and The Politics of Language in Malaysian Literature The poem is written from a first person point of view, ie, Salleh Ben Joned’s view. It is obvious that he is writing from his personal views and opinions.

Readers are able to feel what he is feeling and appreciate the sense of frustration and the desire to defend our way of talk is “not punny, you know”

The language is simple and easy to follow, that is, if you are a Malaysian. Otherwise it would prove to be quite a task to a foreigner as it is full of unique lingua franca called “engmalchin”. A combination of English, Malay, Chinese and Indian languages.  

The criticism is done in a fun way that does not directly insult the government or anyone in particular.

A serious criticism which is made through poetic ‘satire’.

Salleh Ben Joned attempts to embrace the Malaysianess of us all in his poetry. He incorporates the local dialect which reflects the unique nature of Malaysian English as he asserts that “our way of talking the lingo is our way of being unik oso”