By Chong Beng Lim
I couldn't agree more with the statement espoused
by the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin
Muizzuddin Shah, "University students must be instilled with positive
values to ensure that they do not become slaves to greed and materialism"
as more and more government officials are mired in the quicksand of corruption,
in particular, 1MDB.
But the one I couldn't agree with was the usage
of the word, "instil".
Years ago, I wrote a letter to the Financial
Times, titled, "Respect for traditional usage of ‘instil’”, complaining
about the flawed usage of 'instil'. I firmly believe none of the journalists in
Malaysia have read about it.
That’s why we still see the abuse of the word, ‘instil’
in Malaysia.
Let me quote from the Oxford Pocket Fowler’sModern English Usage, “The non-physical
meaning is ‘to introduce (a feeling, idea etc.) into a person’s mind’: They
believed, quite wrongly, that to instil a sense of guilt into me would
ultimately be for my good – R. Hitchcock, 1989.”
It further noted that, “It should not be used with the person as object, tempting through this sometimes is in passive use: During the war my mother and brother and I went to Norfolk, and there I was instilled with a love of the countryside – Sunday Express, 1986. In this alternatives imbue, infuse, and inspire are available.”
Thus the reconstruction of the remark of Sultan
Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, “University students must be imbued (infused) with positive
values to ensure that they do not become slaves to greed and materialism"
Let’s not abuse the word, ‘instil’.
©ChongBeng Lim, The Standard of
Malaysia English, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material
without express and written permission from The Standard of Malaysia English is
strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and
clear credit is given to Chong Beng Lim and The Standard of Malaysia English
blogspot with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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