Netizens Mock Universiti Malaya Over the Word ‘Eksesais’ in Post Congratulating M’sian Olympian

In a social media post, the oldest and highest-ranking Malaysian institution of higher education wrote “UM merakamkan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri, pelajar Fakulti Sukan dan Sains Eksesais atas kejayaan memecahkan rekod kebangsaan dalam acara pecut berbasikal individu.”

TAHNIAH!UM merakamkan setinggi-tinggi tahniah kepada Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri, pelajar Fakulti Sukan dan Sains Eksesais atas kejayaan memecahkan rekod kebangsaan dalam acara pecut berbasikal individu.#universitimalaya#homeofthebright#landofthebrave pic.twitter.com/JV5v2AvoJB

— Universiti Malaya (@unimalaya) August 11, 2024

It translates to “UM congratulates Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri, a Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science student, for successfully breaking the national record in the individual cycling sprint event.” The post was to congratulate her on her Paris Olympics 2024 achievement.

What caught the eye of keen-eyed netizens was the use of the word ‘eksesais’, which seemed like a superfluous translation of the English word ‘exercise’ when Malay words like ‘senaman’ exist. A quick search online on the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka site also showed that the word doesn’t exist. The post has garnered 1.6 million views as of the time of writing.

Instead of congratulating many netizens slammed UM for using the word ‘eksesais’, saying that it should be ‘Sains Sukan’. “How lazy. Too lazy to even name your faculty properly. Sains eksesais?” another wrote. “Why do people like to use English words that have been given a Malay spin? Ish ish ish,” said another. “UM is so embarrassing”, a comment read.

Another user wrote a lengthy response: "Don’t ever talk about the BM fluency of Chinese and Indians when we have the top university in the nation saying ‘eksesais.’ The correlation is that people use language fluency for their thinly veiled racism against Chinese and Indians. Malays ourselves, even the TOP UNIVERSITY, are bastardising BM…The point is that Bahasa Melayu/Malaysia needs to be strengthened overall at an institutional level, regardless of race, because race doesn’t have much to do with it. All races are struggling with fluency in standardised Malay, including Malays.”