This article assays difference between national language policy on the one hand, and perceptions of it on the other. In ethnocratic Malaysia, language policy codifies the dominance of Bahasa Malaysia as part of a wider ethnonationalist policy agenda that pedestalises the ethnic Malays and limits the rights of Chinese and Indian-Malaysians. A set of 25 folk linguistic group debates was held with Malay, Chinese, and Indian youth who determined and framed Malaysia’s national language policy in their own epistemic terms.