---
title: "Sanusi Defends His English, Says ‘Don’t Play-Play’ Remark Was Just A Joke"
url: https://weirdkaya.com/sanusi-defends-his-english-says-dont-play-play-remark-was-just-a-joke/
date: 2026-10-30
modified: 2026-10-30
lang: en
author: "Jann Firdaus"
description: "Singapore has Singlish. And according to Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, he has “Siklish”. Responding to criticism of his English, Sanusi jokingly named his way of..."
categories:
  - "Society"
tags:
  - "English"
  - "Kedah"
  - "langauge"
  - "Sanusi"
  - "sanusi md nor"
  - "siklish"
  - "Singapore"
  - "singlish"
image: https://cdn.weirdkaya.com/media/Sanusi-Defends-His-English-Says-%E2%80%98Dont-Play-Play-Remark-Was-Just-A-Joke.png
word_count: 331
---

# Sanusi Defends His English, Says ‘Don’t Play-Play’ Remark Was Just A Joke

**Singapore has Singlish. And according to Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, he has “Siklish”.**

Responding to criticism of his English, Sanusi jokingly named his way of speaking after his hometown of Sik, Kedah, while arguing that getting his message across mattered more than having perfect grammar.

## Faced criticism after speaking at SG4 forum

According to [Utusan Malaysia](https://www.utusan.com.my/nasional/2026/10/saya-cakap-inggeris-bunyi-sik-pun-boleh-jadi-mb-sanusi/), Sanusi was responding to criticism of his English during the SG4 Business and Economy Forum 2026, where he had raised the issue of rare earth elements (REE).

He addressed the criticism during a press conference at The Greater Kedah Lecture Series in Alor Setar on Oct 29.

Sanusi said communication should be judged by whether listeners understood the message, rather than grammatical accuracy alone.

## Says foreign ambassadors understood him

As reported by [MalaysiaGazette](https://malaysiagazette.com/2026/10/30/belum-ada-orang-putih-komen-bahasa-inggeris-saya-sanusi/), Sanusi claimed that foreign ambassadors he had spoken to understood him and appreciated his attempts to communicate in English.

He cited interactions with representatives from the United States, Australia and Canada.

He also said he had travelled to 38 countries on various missions and used English to communicate during those visits.

In his view, being able to deliver a message that people understood and accepted was more important than speaking perfectly.

## Calls his English ‘Siklish’

Sanusi then drew a comparison with Singapore’s Singlish, joking that his English carried the influence of his Sik dialect and could therefore be called “Siklish”.

He also took a swipe at his critics, quipping that some people with better English were only keyboard warriors, while he had become Menteri Besar despite speaking English with a Sik influence.

## ‘Don’t play-play’ was meant as a joke

Addressing his use of “don’t play-play” at the forum, Sanusi said it was an everyday expression delivered in jest.

According to MalaysiaGazette, he had used the phrase while discussing delays in extracting rare earth elements in Kedah.

He argued that some critics had taken the remark too seriously and failed to recognise the humour in his delivery.

**[READ ALSO:](https://weirdkaya.com/kedah-mb-sanusi-wears-traditional-chinese-costume-wishes-happy-cny-in-mandarin/)**

https://weirdkaya.com/kedah-mb-sanusi-wears-traditional-chinese-costume-wishes-happy-cny-in-mandarin/

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