[lg policy] Borneo: ‘National language struggling to find its place’

[Harold Schiffman]

‘National language struggling to find its place’

Posted on January 10, 2015, Saturday

  KUCHING: With the widespread usage of the English language, the national
language is struggling to find its place amongst citizens.

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Malaysia board of management member Datu Adi
Badiozaman Tuah, who said this, added that English is used globally and
that international trade and the setting up of international companies and
foreign investments had strengthened the language’s hold in Malaysia.

This in turn stunted the development and usage of Bahasa Malaysia in high
economic value sectors, he noted.

“This directly influenced Malaysians with negative perceptions towards the
national language, that it has lower economic value in the global market,
and low ability as an education medium,” he said at DBP’s monthly assembly
and launching of the bookshop here yesterday.

To make matters worse, Bahasa Malaysia is sidelined in events or official
correspondence, and several policies and political views were not in tandem
with the National Language Policy.

DBP faced an economic-political environment that is not Bahasa
Malaysia-friendly. The current social-cultural environment was challenging
and complex, and DBP had to address these strategically to strengthen the
language in the state, he said.

Among the steps to be taken to mitigate this was to expand the usage of
Bahasa Malaysia amongst civil workers and youths, develop and promote
writers who can produce high quality works, produce quality works that
showcase the rich cultural, historical and intellectual strength of
Sarawak, strategic effort to enrich the national language with local
dialects and to promote the language internationally, he added.

The newly launched bookshop will start operating in February and opening
hours are on Mondays to Fridays and on the first and third Saturdays of the
month from 9am to 5pm.

Also present was DBP Sarawak branch director Dr Hazami Jahari.

Read more:
http://www.theborneopost.com/2015/01/10/national-language-struggling-to-find-its-place/#ixzz3OQybqlyi


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