Selangor gov't to take down bilingual road name signs immediately

The Selangor government will abide by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s decree to replace bilingual road name signs to those in the national language.

“Instructions have been issued to remove the signs immediately,” said Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari’s aide Borhan Aman Shah when contacted today.

Earlier, the state ruler decreed through a letter from his private secretary Mohamad Munir Bani that the signs should be replaced by the sultan’s 73rd birthday celebration on Dec 11. 

“The sultan has decreed that all road name signs which have Chinese writing in Shah Alam be removed and replaced with signs in a single language, which is Bahasa Melayu,” read the letter.

Sinar Harian yesterday quoted Persatuan Penulis Nasional Malaysia (Pena) president Mohamad Saleeh Rahamad criticising the move to change road name signs in Jawi and Bahasa Malaysia to other languages.

He said the move to change the Jawi writing to Chinese or Tamil was an insolent act as it was an attempt to discard Malay heritage.

“So to discard (Jawi) and use the Chinese language in its place is a move which is not harmonious in the Malaysian context,” he reportedly said.

The report also quoted the Shah Alam City Council explaining on Twitter that signage changes were made pursuant to a Jan 13, 2017 decision by the Selangor Standing Committee on Local Government.

It said the committee had decided that road name signs should not only be in Latin alphabets, but also Jawi for traditional villages and Chinese for new villages.

The state exco member for local government, public transport and new village development Ng Sze Han had previously defended the bilingual signages.

Sinar Harian quoted him as saying on Saturday that bilingual signages had been used for years and questioned why it had only become an issue now.

“Yes, there are Chinese signages in Chinese new villages and Jawi signages in Malay new villages in addition to the national language. This is not only in Shah Alam but also in the Seri Kembangan new village and several other places.

“This is one of the uniqueness of this country and there is no need to question it,” he was quoted as saying. - Mkini