PM wants to make Malay second language among Asean members

 

Ismail Sabri Yaakob says he wants to elevate the use of Malay at the international level and will discuss this with Asean leaders.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will confer with Asean leaders to propose the use of Malay as the grouping’s second language, in efforts to elevate the mother tongue at the international level.

Ismail said that apart from Malaysia, Malay was used as a medium of instruction in several neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore as well as in southern Thailand, southern Philippines and in parts of Cambodia.

“So there is no reason why we cannot make Bahasa Melayu as one of the official languages of Asean. We will coordinate on this matter and I will discuss with the leaders of countries that do use Bahasa Melayu so that they agree to make it the second language of Asean.

“After that, we will discuss with other Asean leaders whose countries also have residents who use Bahasa Melayu as a spoken language,” he said during question-and-answer time in the Dewan Negara today.

Ismail was replying to a supplementary question from Zurainah Musa, who wanted to know whether the government would work with Asean leaders to coordinate the use of Malay at the regional level.

Elaborating on the matter, Ismail said currently only four out of the 10 Asean countries use English in official events at the international level, while the others use their national languages in their official affairs.

The prime minister said he himself had used Malay during his official visits to Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia and Thailand before and most recently during his visit to Vietnam two days ago.

“We don’t need to feel ashamed or awkward to use Bahasa Melayu at the international level because this effort to uphold the Malay language is also in line with one of the priority areas of the Malaysian Foreign Policy Framework which was launched by the government on Dec 7 last year.

“This effort will continue in international meetings and conferences, whether bilateral or multilateral, within or outside the country as and when necessary,” he said. - FMT