Of Toddy, Tongsan, and Bigfoot from Kinabatangan: The Use of Impolite Language in the Malaysian Parliament

Abstract

Each legislative session is a state affair where Members of Parliament (MPs) are expected to act with decorum. Unfortunately, reality is rather removed from this. Similar to some other parliaments of late, the Malaysian parliament over the years has seen a fair share of various debasing language from its MPs. Primarily, this chapter highlights a range of debasing threads made by MPs in the Malaysian parliament, extracted from scholarly output and media reports. To ensure data sufficiency, the timeline covered is generous (2007–2020), with debasing language operationalized as derogatory speech that typically offends, devalues or discriminates against an individual or out-group. Background narratives of Malaysia’s political and sociocultural terrains are provided to lend depth and context. Moreover, different functions and goals drive debasement in the political arena and these are outlined toward the end of the chapter. In general, there is a paucity of research on debasing parliamentary discourse within the Malaysian setting; this case study’s contribution expands empirical knowledge concerning a country not sufficiently covered in the literature.