DON: UPHOLD BAHASA MELAYU
‘Many books on science and technology have been published in the language’
THE belief of certain quarters who are unconvinced with Bahasa Melayu’s role as the language of knowledge and the medium of science and technology is baseless.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Chemical and Process Engineering lecturer Professor Datuk Dr Wan Ramli Wan Daud said this was because numerous books in the said fields had already been published in the language since the 1980s.
He said many public universities here had used Bahasa Melayu as the medium.
“The efforts to uphold Bahasa Melayu since Merdeka, especially in education, was however halted and it was replaced with English without prior studies,” he said at a forum in conjunction with “Empowerment of Bahasa Melayu: Road to the Fourth Industrial Revolution” seminar at Universiti Putra
Malaysia (UPM) here yesterday.
Wan Ramli said the situation was made even more challenging with the implementation of the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI) policy in 2003.
“Studies conducted by Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in 2008 and international studies like Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2007 revealed the decline of competency percentage in Science and Mathematics after PPSMI was introduced,” he said.
He said the findings were not fully recognised and the Dual Language Programme was introduced.
“We are a sovereign country and should use our own language, including in science and technology,” he said.
The forum was mediated by Perbadanan Kota Buku chief executive officer Sayed Munawar Sayed Mustar and was joined by former Universiti Malaya vicechancellor Datuk Professor Emeritus Dr Hashim Yaacob and Malaysian Islamic Understanding Institute director general Datuk Professor Dr Azizan Baharuddin.
Hashim said Bahasa Melayu remained relevant and important, therefore efforts to uphold its stature must be done, including to increase science and technology publications written in the language.
“Vocabulary and terms in Bahasa Melayu must be added without having to derive them from English.
“The fight to uphold Bahasa Melayu is important, but it does not mean that English is being sidelined.”
Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching launched the closing ceremony of the event, which was organised in collaboration with UPM and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.