Govt instructs officials to speak BM primarily at international stage

 

Putrajaya has instructed representatives attending international conferences or official government business abroad to primarily use Bahasa Malaysia when speaking.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said English is only a second option if the other party is speaking in English.

"The cabinet decided on options, if the country uses their own language, then we use Bahasa Malaysia.

"If they speak in English, we can either speak in English or we can still use Bahasa Malaysia," he told a press conference in Bangkok today.

Ismail is on a three-day official visit to Thailand. He was previously in Cambodia.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who was also present, said Ismail had conducted almost all his affairs in Cambodia and Thailand in Bahasa Malaysia.

Ismail said the only exception was an event attended by many dignitaries last night.

"There were many ambassadors last night, so I spoke in English," he said.

Explaining further, Ismail said that when he is in Thailand for example, those he meets will speak in Thai.

He said even if he spoke in English, it would be translated to Thai.

"So it is better for us to use our language for it to be translated to their language," he said.

He said there have been no issues on having Bahasa Malaysia translated to the person he is speaking to.

Ismail said Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had got the ball rolling when he spoke in Bahasa Melayu at the 26th Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland last year.

He said Malaysia may even speak Bahasa Melayu at the United Nations.

Tuan Ibrahim's decision to speak Bahasa Melayu at COP26 met with mixed reviews.

He reportedly spoke without a translator present, although a hard copy of his translated speech was made available to those present.

Speaking to reporters today, Ismail said there was no reason to feel ashamed speaking Bahasa Malaysia abroad.

"The time has come to make our language great. Bahasa Malaysia is our official language.

"There is no reason to feel awkward when speaking Bahasa Malaysia abroad, other people are proud of their own language," he said. - Mkini