KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's decision to use Bahasa Melayu (BM) at all official functions it is involved in including international meetings has been described as a bold move that will re-elevate the status of the national language.
The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) does not view such a move as a step backward nor an issue since other countries had also used their respective national languages at international conferences.
Its president Datuk Adnan Mat is hoping the government will be strict in implementing such a proposal during official events and affairs in the country as emphasised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
"From our observation, there are events organised by government agencies which did not use Bahasa Melayu as the delivery language.
"Therefore, the use of Bahasa Melayu during official government events should be implemented first before such a proposal is expanded to international events outside the country.
"If the proposal is not emphasised (implemented) in our country, how can we uphold and elevate the status of BM at the global stage?," said Adnan in a statement today.
The government, he said, can implement the use of BM at all official events in the country by issuing a circular as well as take action and issue warnings against ministries, departments and agencies that failed to comply with the instruction.
Adnan added that the use of BM at all official events should be extended to statutory bodies at the federal and state levels.
"As the people of Malaysia, we should welcome such a proposal (the use of BM at official events) since it will help to elevate the status of our national language at the international stage," he said.
Ismail Sabri had first proposed the use of BM at every conference, meeting and other events when he officiated the 2021 Prime Minister's Cup International Bahasa Melayu Public Speaking competition at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Johor last year.
He reiterated such a proposal during his two-day long working visit to Thailand which concluded yesterday. Ismail Sabri said he had used BM when attending previous bilateral meetings and joint press conferences during his official visits to Brunei and Cambodia earlier, and now Thailand.
In the statement to Bernama, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Board of Control chairman Prof Datuk Seri Dr Awang Sariyan said the prime minister's statement should be a source of commitment for all civil servants in and outside the country to use BM with its English translation when carrying out their official duties.
"The Public Service Department in its Service Circular No. 9 of 2011 has mentioned that the use of BM is encouraged in correspondence matters at the international level with English translation.
"For international agreements, English is used and the BM translation is made for record and review. The same thing was reissued in Service Circular No. 1 of 2020," read the statement.