PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today stressed the importance of upholding mastery in Bahasa Melayu.
However, he said the English language will also given emphasis next year.
Anwar said this during a "no holds barred" dialogue with senior editors from the country's electronic, print and online media.
The session, held at the Kompleks Seri Perdana here, featured journalists from various publications nationwide including Sabah and Sarawak.
For more than an hour, Anwar fielded a host of hard-hitting questions, ranging from the country's economics projection for next year, the unity government's relations with Umno heading into the 16th General Election, his relationship with the incoming agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and others.
He also highlighted the need to enhance the quality of training in areas like TVET (Technical, Vocational Education and Training) and artificial intelligence (AI).
"Economic programmes are related to the issues that I mentioned in the Madani nation principles, such as boosting command of English, education and mastery of new disciplines such as AI.
"Our focus is to manage, repair and enhance the country. We are not that far behind (compared to other countries), so we have to address our weaknesses and improve."