Translation training to help overseas delegations, minister says

Wisma Putra is engaging the Malaysian Translators Association (MTA) to train a group of civil servants who speak third languages, said Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.

The move is to prepare a team with the ability to serve as translators for the prime minister and Malaysian delegations when going for meetings in foreign countries.

This follows a recent decision by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob who wanted Bahasa Malaysia to be used in all official government events including his official visits overseas.

This was to elevate the status of the national language.

According to Saifuddin (above), the government recently encountered a challenge of providing its own translators when the premier visited neighbouring countries Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.

“We are yet to be well prepared in providing translation from languages such as Thai to BM, and vice versa.

“The recent trip (to Thailand) we had an intern who could help with translation, but we had none during visits to Cambodia and Vietnam,” the minister told a press conference at the Parliament today.

Last month, Ismail Sabri revealed that Putrajaya instructed representatives attending international conferences or official government business abroad to primarily use BM when speaking.

According to Saifuddin, the ministry cannot simply engage the service of professional translators when abroad, especially for meetings that require a certain level of security clearance.

Only those who have been vetted by the government can be allowed to participate in such discussions.

“So we have discussed with the MTA, and we will soon hold courses and training for a group of officers who already have proficiency in certain foreign languages.

“We are also looking into the need to set up our own translation unit with professional translators onboard. This will depend on the financial allocation that we are going to receive,” he said.

Special allowance

Besides translators, Wisma Putra is also looking into training civil servants who are going to be sent for service abroad in the language of their host countries.

This is to increase the number of Malaysian officers with a third-language proficiency, said the minister, with a focus on five languages: Arabic, Mandarin, French, Russian, and Spanish.

To motivate officers to pick up a third language, Saifuddin told reporters they are looking into bringing back a special allowance that used to be given to civil servants who master a third language.

“We will discuss with the Civil Service Department to bring back this allowance, as a motivation to officers to learn the languages.

“This is not only for Foreign Ministry staff but also others including Education Malaysia, Tourism and Culture Ministry, defense attache from the Defense Ministry, and such.” - Mkini