S'pore Diary: Giving the Malay language its due recognition

SINGAPORE: Singapore wants to see the Malay language given its due recognition. During the "Malay Language: Role And Value In The Region" forum on Tuesday, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing was quoted by Singapore Straits Times as saying; "Only by learning the Malay language will we continue to remain relevant to the region and the world at large".
Chan who spoke both in English and Malay in the forum also said that having a command of the Malay language could help Singapore bridge Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.
The forum was the first in a series which aims to acquaint non-native speakers with the Malay language and culture through dialogues and workshops. It was organised by the republic's Malay-language daily Berita Harian. The programme is supported by philanthropic organisation Temasek Foundation Connects, set up by Temasek Holdings, a state-owned holding company.
The Malay language is the national language of Singapore and the republic's national anthem "Majulah Singapura" is in that language. Together with Mandarin, Tamil and English, the Malay language is also one of the official languages of the republic.
Most of public signage in the city-state island is in Malay, together with the other three official languages. So is the public announcement at the MRT stations.
Sharing his own experience learning both the Malay and Indonesian languages when he served in the army, Chan said it helped him "open a window into a different culture" as well as better understand the great diversity in cultures and languages across the region.
Meanwhile, Temasek Foundation Connects chief executive Lim Hock Chuan noted that the Malay language is the lingua franca of the region.
"Besides the many very tangible practical benefits, the Malay language also connects many people through a sense of kinship and shared identity whenever they hear its familiar sounds," Lim was quoted as saying.
By coincidence, back home, a day earlier, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah wanted the vernacular schools in Malaysia to ensure their students were able to master the Malay language with a good degree of fluency, if not better than students in national schools.
The sultan said proficiency in the national language should be accepted as a challenge and the achievement of the students in mastering the language should be made one of the key indices of vernacular schools.
"The success of the vernacular schools in getting their pupils to master the national language will help build a united nation and minimise the uneasiness of some communities towards vernacular schools," he said.
The Sultan of Perak also noted that it was contradictory and ironic that a Malaysian citizen could not understand, speak, write and read in the national language which is the identity of the nation. I too find it strange if Malaysians cannot grasp the Malay language while our neighbours see how significant the language is.
I feel its time that we give the Malay language its due recognition without prejudice and help put the language in the world map. — Bernama