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Malaysia prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he will discuss with other Asean leaders to propose the use of Malay as the second language of the region, Bernama reported.

Ismail Sabri put forth this idea on March 23, in response to questions in the Upper House (Dewan Negara) asking about efforts to elevate the country's mother tongue at the international level and if the Malaysia government would work with Asean leaders to coordinate the use of Malay at the regional level.

Malay in use in many countries in region

Ismail Sabri said apart from Malaysia, Malay was used as a medium of instruction in several neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore, as well as in southern Thailand, southern Philippines and in parts of Cambodia.

There were hundreds of thousands of people who can speak Malay in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, he said.

Ismail Sabri said, according to Bernama: “So there is no reason why we cannot make Bahasa Melayu as one of the official languages of Asean."

"We will coordinate on this matter and I will discuss with the leaders of countries that do use Bahasa Melayu so that they agree to make it the second language of Asean."

He added that Malaysia will then discuss the matter with other Asean leaders whose countries also have residents who use Bahasa Melayu as a spoken language.

No shame in using Malay, has notes prepared in Malay when overseas

Elaborating on the matter, Ismail Sabri said: “At this time, only four out of 10 Asean countries use English in official events at the international level. Whereas six other countries use their mother tongues for official matters which require translation.”

“We do not have to feel ashamed or awkward to use Malay at the international level," Ismail Sabri said, as he elaborated that he has notes and related documents prepared for him in Malay for his reference when going overseas for official trips.

"The effort to empower Malay is also in line with one of the priority areas of Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Framework launched on Dec 7 last year,” he added.

Ismail Sabri also said he himself had used Malay during his official visits to Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia and Thailand before, and most recently, during his visit to Vietnam two days ago, Bernama reported.

Who Malaysia PM was responding to

Ismail Sabri was responding to separate questions from different people.

Bernama reported that Ismail Sabri was responding to a member of the senate, Isa Ab Hamid, who wanted to know about the government’s efforts to empower Malay language in Malaysia’s diplomatic and foreign relations.

Bernama also reported that Ismail Sabri was replying to a supplementary question from senator Zurainah Musa, who wanted to know whether the government would work with Asean leaders to coordinate the use of Malay at the regional level.

Message for domestic audience

CNA also reported that Ismail Sabri had said earlier on March 19 at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) General Assembly that the learning of Malay would be made compulsory for foreign students enrolling in Malaysian universities.

“The time has come for us to be proud of the Malay language, as such there is no reason for us to feel awkward about speaking Malay even at the international stage, as language is the soul of the nation,” he said at the assembly meeting.

“Over 300 million of Asean's population use Malay in daily speech. Malay has the seventh largest number of speakers in the world,” Ismail Sabri said, expressing his hope that Malay will emerge as Asean's second language.

Top photo via Bernama

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