KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Fearing the widening effects of poor language command in the business sphere, AirAsia group chief Tan Sri Tony Fernandes urged Malaysians today to speak up and participate in an online Pemandu survey on the importance of increasing English proficiency.

The head of Asia’s biggest budget airline claimed Malaysia has lost its competitiveness due to declining standards in English proficiency.

“We can’t run away from English. It’s the global language,” Fernandes posted on his Twitter account @tonyfernandes in a series of tweets.

“Please get all Malaysians to follow me and please please use compete [sic] the survey. http://goo.gl/forms/u09WpY91mJ … . Please get it viral.

“Airasia is doing its bit. We need Malaysians to rise. It’s time the silent majority is heard,” he said in a series of tweets, attaching an image of the survey by the government agency on AirAsia’s newsletter.

The article on AirAsia states that AirAsia believes in supporting the government’s efforts to improve English usage at schools.

“In support of Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), please participate in a short survey to learn about the general perception on the importance of English proficiency. The outcome of this will contribute towards the betterment of the country,” said AirAsia in the newsletter.

The Pemandu survey, which ends 5pm Sunday, is an anonymous poll that asks questions in Malay and English like: “Would you consider some subjects in school to be taught in another language besides Bahasa Malaysia?”

Another question asks which subjects should be taught in English, providing options like science, mathematics and ICT, or history, geography and arts.

The survey also asks: “Do you think teaching other subjects in English would reduce the importance of Bahasa Malaysia as our national language?”.

The Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) tweeted that it was doing its bit too, in response to Fernandes.

“Kudos to @tonyfernandes you are on a roll!” the parents group tweeted from its Twitter account @PAGEMalaysia.

PAGE was started as a response to the Education Ministry’s decision to abolish the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English policy (PPSMI) in 2012 after it was introduced in 2003.

Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar has urged Malaysia to revive English-medium schools like in Singapore, pointing out that Singaporean students have fared very well in mathematics and science and that the island republic’s use of English has set the country ahead of Malaysia.