Malay language should be made official language of Asean: Rais

BANGKOK: The Malay language, spoken by over 300 million or half the population of Southeast Asia, should be made the official language of Asean, said socio-cultural affairs adviser to the Malaysian government, Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim.
"The main language in Southeast Asia is Bahasa Melayu but unfortunately, it is not placed where it should be, that is, as the official language of diplomacy and communication at Asean's official ceremonies and events."
He said this at a press conference, here, Saturday after delivering his keynote address at the 'Malay World Meeting 2017' forum, organised by the Federation of National Writers' Association Malaysia (Gapena), and the Malay World Islamic World or Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI) Thailand.
Rais said Malay-speaking Asean leaders needed to play a role in promoting the Malay language agenda to bring it to a higher level in the region.
He said efforts to uplift the position of the Malay language in the region would also be in line with the proposal by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to make Bahasa Melayu the language of Asean by 2050.
He said that during a 1987 Asean-level meeting on culture in Jakarta, Malaysia and Indonesia had made the effort to place Bahasa Melayu/Bahasa Indonesia as the regional association's choice language for speeches and diplomacy, but this agenda did not progress further.
Rais said raising the position of the Malay language to be in line with its status as the main language in the region was only logical because if this was not done, English would be the region's official language.
Gapena and DMDI, he said, had a role to play through establishing regional networking to increase efforts to uplift the status of the Malay language, and he also called on the Malay Language Council of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore to be the catalyst for this regional cooperation.
Also present at the forum were Gapena president Datuk Zainal Abidin Borhan, and DMDI Thailand president, Wan Muhamad Nor Matha, the kingdom's former parliamentary Speaker. — Bernama