Relaxation of Bahasa Melayu pass requirement can jeopardise national language — Professor
MELAKA: The relaxation of the requirement for a pass in Bahasa Melayu in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination for the appointment of contract Grade UD41 medical officers by the Health Ministry could jeopardise the position of Bahasa Melayu as the national language in this country.
Umno education bureau chairman, Tan Sri Prof Dr Ibrahim Shah Abu Shah said Bahasa Melayu, enshrined as the national language under Article 161 and Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, was also being used as a medium in the dealings of government and other agencies in Malaysia. He said the bureau viewed the statement by Health Ministry director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah recently on the issue as serious.
“If Bahasa Melayu can now be trivialised, there will surely be other matters in the Malaysian Constitution which will be picked on and abolished by irresponsible parties. The top leaders in the ministry must study the effects of the decision, especially when it involves a matter contained in the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
He said it was not something which could be changed at whim as the effects would be felt in the next 10 or 20 years.
Ibrahim Shah said although it was crucial that the English language be mastered, especially in order to achieve the National Transformation Policy 2050 ( TN50) agenda, it was not an excuse for medical doctors to not master Bahasa Melayu as there were already many people in the country who were not proficient in Bahasa Melayu, including state assemblymen and members of Parliament.
He said the mastery of Bahasa Melayu was not only for communication purposes but if science and medicine could be learnt through the national language, this would produce many doctors among Malaysians.
He added that the language proficiency was even more important for those who would serve as civil servants, especially in the medical profession as they would be the frontliners who served the public. — Bernama