Call for act to uphold national language

KUALA LUMPUR: Federation of National Writers’ Associations (Gapena) Chief I, Datuk Abdul Latiff Bakar said the time has come for the government to have a law which could act against agencies, departments and local councils which fail to uphold the national language in their official affairs.

“We have brought this matter up many times, but there has been no development, for now we can only comment but if there is a law, any party which refuses to obey it (upholding the national language) can be punished,” he said.

He also urged the Education Ministry to make it compulsory for the senates of institutes of higher learning to observe the regulation to uphold the national language in their administration.

“As educational institutes, they have a big responsibility to uphold the Malay language and not just chase rankings,” he said as a panelist at the forum “Challenges of the National Language in the Era of Globalisation” here yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), Datuk Awang Sariyan said DBP would conduct a language audit on six public universities in a move to ensure that universities in the country abided by the regulations.

He added that the DBP had so far audited 37 of the 149 local councils in the country in a move to award star rating for councils which used Bahasa Melayu in their official dealings.

“From the audit we conducted, the usage of Bahasa Melayu in official matters including advertisements is still unsatisfactory.

“However, there are some local councils which we give five stars, including the Shah Alam City Council,” he said in the forum.

He said the ranking was one of the initiatives by the government to encourage local councils to uphold Bahasa Melayu.

DBP chairman Dr Md Salleh Yaapar said the education system should retain Bahasa Melayu as its medium of instruction and its usage was not the reason for the weak command of the English language among students.

“We acknowledge the importance of English and are not opposing it...other languages can be used including English, but this is not an excuse for replacing bahasa Melayu as a medium of instruction