‘Use Bahasa Malaysia at official functions’

KUALA LUMPUR: Although Bahasa Malaysia is the national language and the main medium of communication, not enough is being done to uphold the purity of the language at official functions.

According to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) director-general Datuk Abang Sallehuddin Abang Shokeran, the use of the national language is still not being prioritised.

“This is regrettable and should not be the case. Sometimes, even the name given to a function or programme is in a foreign language or in bahasa rojak (mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and other languages),” he told Bernama in an interview recently.

He added Bahasa Malaysia should be used for all official purposes by federal and state governments and other public authorities.

“This is clearly provided for under the provisions of the Federal Constitution and National Language Act as well as circulars issued by the government.”

Abang Sallehuddin acknowledged that in general, based on DBP’s monitoring from time to time, names given to official programmes implemented by the government are in the national language, citing Covid-19 pandemic aid packages Permai, Penjana, Prihatin, Pemerkasa and Pemulih, as examples.

He said DBP has also come up with Bahasa Malaysia equivalents of terms commonly used during the pandemic, such as pelitup muka (face mask), sekatan pergerakan (movement control), kawalan kendiri (self-control) and lesu upaya (burnout).

Abang Sallehuddin said the use of Bahasa Malaysia laced with terms from other languages certainly does not reflect the country’s identity.

He dismissed assumptions that the use of the national language in local educational institutions will yield individuals who lack skills or are not educated enough.

He said while proficiency in other languages is an added advantage, marginalising the national language is akin to taking a step backwards.