Exercise due diligence before criticising

I REFER to the letter “Perils of not reviewing Google translations” (The Star, Jan 6; online at https://bit.ly/3t9Rt2y).

The letter makes a case for the need to review translations done by Google Translate, which is a fair point. The writer used three examples to explain his point, one of which was the word “Datuk” being translated into “grandfather” in a post purportedly on the Health Ministry’s website.

This particular issue has been cleared by the Health Ministry, which explained that the screenshot with the “grandfather” translation that was malevolently circulated on various social media platforms was generated by a Facebook user who had an auto translate feature in his/her smartphone.

According to a statement released by the Health Ministry on Dec 15, the posting circulated online was the auto-translated version and that the original did not contain any translations at all.

The second incident cited by the writer was “air kosong” being translated into “empty water”. A quick look at the screenshot being circulated on social media shows that it is yet another auto-translated text, however. The Health Ministry has also issued a statement to clear up the matter, saying: “The MoH found that the Facebook posting which was screenshot and widely spread via WhatsApp on Jan 3, 2022 is caused by users whose phones had the activated Facebook auto translate.”

It is abundantly clear that the Health Ministry has nothing to do with these auto translations. In fact, most of the press statements issued by the ministry online, including Facebook where the screenshots with the translations originated, are only available in Bahasa Malaysia.

The auto translate feature primarily exists on Chrome and smartphones by default (and is likely to be one of the reasons for this confusion). It therefore appears that the individual(s) circulating these screenshots are (1) maliciously doing so to create mistrust towards the Health Ministry or (2) are simply unaware of the fact that their smartphones have the auto translate feature.

Whatever the case, the said ministry has now become the subject of unwarranted and unjust vitriol. For some Malaysians, it has become a pastime to ridicule and make light of the government of the day. The English language is just a weapon in this instance.

We would do well to remember that the Health Ministry with Khairy Jamaluddin at the helm has acted fast in delivering vaccines for the benefit of the general public. In this aspect, we are better off than even first world countries like Britain and Australia.

We should be focusing on the significant contributions of the Health Ministry as opposed to perpetuating a false claim on official statements being poorly translated. This is notwithstanding the legal consequences of sharing news that is untrue (refer, for instance, to Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998).

In this new year, let’s all exercise due diligence before criticising or belittling anyone or any groups, including the government, to prevent the needless harm it causes.

BALJIT KAUR

Petaling Jaya