By: Nurul Ezzaty Mohd Azhari
SERDANG, April 11 – The Malay language will become the language of international communication and regain control of all relations in the region if ASEAN leaders collectively agree to accept Malay as the second language of ASEAN.
Associate Professor Dr. Norazlina Mohd Kiram, a lecturer from the Department of Malay Language, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), said a transparent consideration based on facts and openness to accept the reality of the position of a language could strengthen cooperation among ASEAN members.
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| Prof. Madya Dr. Norazlina Mohd Kiram, Fakulti Bahasa Moden dan Komunikasi |
"Based on the principle of mutual respect, Malaysia should welcome the suggestion made by the Indonesia’s Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology that the proposal to make Malay as the second language of ASEAN needs to be refined and further discussed.”
"With regard to ASEAN languages, the language that will be chosen as the official language of ASEAN must take into account the importance of a country's economic and political power, although it is acknowledged that all ASEAN languages can emerge as an authoritative language and language of knowledge," she said.
She explained that the effort to make Malay the official language of ASEAN has long been discussed, debated and proposed by various parties.
"Recently, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, proposed that Malay be made the second language of ASEAN after English based on the justification that the Malay language is spoken by over 300 million ASEAN residents from Indonesia to Cambodia.
“Malaysia's proposal to make Malay the language of ASEAN has received objections from the Indonesian government. However, Indonesia cannot dispute that the Malay language has its own glorious history,” she said.
Currently, more than 6,000 languages are being used worldwide, but only 20 languages are given the official language status, including Malay, which is also listed as the 10th most popular language in use in the world.
Associate Professor Dr. Norazlina cited Singapore as an example. According to her, there are four official languages in the republic, including the Malay language. However, only Malay is recognised as the national language of the republic.
Thus, the Malay language should be chosen as the language that reflects ASEAN and named as the official language since it is a more familiar language to most members of the regional organisations compared to the other languages.
“Five members of ASEAN, namely Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines, share the same language family compared to the other ASEAN languages. In fact, in the international arena, Malay is said to be the second language of communication after Arabic.
“Institutions of higher learning in ASEAN countries have become centres for Malay Language Studies, including the Prince of Songkla University (PSU), the sole Malay language study centre in Thailand. In the Philippines, a centre for Malay Studies has been set up at Mindanao State University, while in Singapore, the centre is at the National University of Singapore (NUS),” she explained.
As a language that was once the lingua franca of the people in the region, she hoped to see the glory being restored, and Malaysia's intention to elevate Malay as the language of ASEAN can finally be realised. - UPM.
