Sanusi Defends His English: ‘Siklish’, Like Singapore’s Singlish

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has defended his English after social media users criticised his delivery at the SG4 2026 Business and Economic Forum at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre recently, Harian Metro reported. He calls it siklish.

Speaking to reporters after The Greater Kedah lecture series programme in Alor Setar on Thursday (Oct 29), Sanusi said the ability to communicate should not be judged on grammatical accuracy alone, but on how effectively a message reaches its audience.

Sanusi on English Criticism

Sanusi said he had not received any criticism of his speech from native English speakers, and that the comments had come only from local social media users, who he said were Malays.

He said he had spoken with the ambassadors of the United States, Australia, Canada and India, who understood and appreciated him, describing this as the art of communication.

The criticism followed his English delivery when he raised the issue of rare earth elements (REE) at the forum. Sanusi said he had travelled to 38 countries and used English to communicate on various missions.

Siklish, Like Singlish

Sanusi said he did not regard grammatical accuracy as the absolute measure of communication, as long as the message was understood. “Komunikasi ini bukanlah pembaris” (communication is not a ruler), he said.

He said that as a person from Sik, he speaks with a Sik dialect, which he called “Siklish”, just as Singapore has Singlish.

Utusan Malaysia reported that he also joked he would speak English during the Melaka state election campaign, where PAS is contesting two state seats.

Call to Speed Up Rare Earth Policy

On REE, Sanusi said he hoped the federal government would speed up policies on mining the minerals so that states with the resources could generate new revenue.

He said investors had shown interest in REE exploration and processing and had completed exploration, but obtaining mining licences still faced policy constraints and technical approvals, including mining plans and environmental impact assessments.

Sanusi said slow technical processes would delay extraction and the state’s new revenue, and that the state risked missing the chance to benefit from the current high demand for REE.

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Siklish