[lg policy] Malaysia: Respect Language And Culture Of All Ethnicities

[Harold Schiffman]

Malaysia: Respect Language And Culture Of All Ethnicities



We, the undersigned organisations, in conjunction with International
mother tongue language day February 21, call upon the government to
strengthen mother tongue education by guaranteeing its unrestricted
development and allocating equal resources for all schools.



The government needs also to review the national cultural policy and
national education policy to fully implement the multicultural policy
in our multi-ethnic society.



The indigenous people's languages are intricately connected to the
environment that they interact with and the resources that they live
from, therefore the protection of environment is vital to the
protection of their languages and identity. We call upon the
government to ensure sustainable development program that will help in
protection of the environment thus protecting the indigenous people's
language and culture.



The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) had adopted February 21 as International Mother Tongue
Language Day to commemorate the Bengali language movement which
witnessed five students of University of Dhaka being killed in a
protest against the imposition of Urdu as the sole national language
policy on February 21, 1952.



We hold that all ethnic groups' cultures and languages are equal. They
evolved and developed as the cultural heritage of a community. These
truths are self-evident.



The subordination of other ethnic groups' cultures and languages is
deplorable and will only worsen ethnic relations. The government
should not impose discriminatory policy or practices against any
particular group's cultures and languages, especially from minority
and indigenous communities.



We therefore urge the government to address the linguistic and
cultural issues facing ethnic minorities and indigenous community in
this country as follows:



1. Ensure unrestricted development and allocate equal resource for all
schools – national schools, mother tongue schools and religious
schools; the government should also give recognition to non formal
education based on oral traditions of indigenous peoples



2. Initiate mother tongue education at the pre-school stage for the
various indigenous communities as the first step of comprehensive
mother tongue education system, this can effectively reduce the
drop-out of indigenous children in national schools; the government
should also include curriculum that fulfills the aspirations of
indigenous peoples in national schools;



3. To train sufficient and competent teachers for mother tongue
schools, teaching of Malay language subject using method and technique
of second language teaching



4. Initiate an enactment to introduce the system of “National
Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities” to preserve and promote
linguistic rights of ethnic minorities and indigenous groups. (India
as a reference)



5. Ensure all movies, writings, performance and art products made in
Malaysia are equally eligible to be 'national movie / literature /
performance / arts' and enjoy the state's cultural resources
regardless of the languages and ethnic background



6. To provide institutional protection for indigenous people's Native
Customary Rights (NCR) and obtain the Free Prior Informed Consent
(FPIC) from indigenous Peoples before any amendment of laws or
approval of development projects that will affect their rights



7. To institute an 'Ethnic Relations Council' to address all
race-based controversies and abolish institutionalized discriminatory
practices against ethnic minorities and indigenous communities



8. To revise the National Cultural Policy and National Education
Policy to implement multiculturalism policy and cultural democracy

http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9091:malaysia-respect-language-and-culture-of-all-ethnicities-open-letter&catid=62:southeast-asia-indigenous-peoples&Itemid=84

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