Language

The official language of Malaysia is Malaysian,^[2] a standardised form of the Malay language.^[176] The terminology as per government policy is Bahasa Malaysia (literally "Malaysian language")^[177] but legislation continues to refer to the official language as Bahasa Melayu (literally "Malay language").^[178] Historically English was the de facto administrative language, with Malay becoming predominant after the 1969 race riots.^[179] Under the National Language Act 1967, "The script of the national language shall be the Rumi [Latin] script: provided that this shall not prohibit the use of the Malay script, more commonly known as the Jawi script, of the national language."^[180]
English remains an active second language, with its use allowed for some official purposes under the National Language act 1967,^[180] and serves as the medium of instruction for maths and sciences in all public schools.^[181][182] Malaysian English, also known as Malaysian Standard English, is a form of English derived from British English. Malaysian English is widely used in business, along with Manglish, which is a colloquial form of English with heavy Malay, Chinese, and Tamil influences. The government discourages the use of non-standard Malay and has instituted fines for public signs that mix Malay and English.^[183][184]
Many other languages are used in Malaysia, which contains speakers of 137 living languages.^[185] Peninsular Malaysia contains speakers of 41 of these languages.^[186] The native tribes of East Malaysia have their own languages which are related to, but easily distinguishable from, Malay. Iban is the main tribal language in Sarawak while Dusunic languages are spoken by the natives in Sabah.^[187] Chinese Malaysians predominately speak Chinese dialects from the southern provinces of China. The more common dialects in the country are Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, and Fuzhou. Tamil is used predominantly by Tamils, who form a majority of Malaysian Indians. Other south Asian languages are also widely spoken in Malaysia, as well as Thai^[2] A small number of Malaysians have Caucasian ancestry and speak creole languages, such as the Portuguese based Malaccan Creoles,^[188] and the Spanish based Chavacano language.^[189]