KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 — The use of English terms or phrases in national programmes and projects will hamper efforts to strengthen Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, former federal minister Tan Sri Rais Yatim said.
According to a Kosmo! report, the social and cultural adviser to the government said Bahasa Malaysia equivalents of such terms could be created, and that the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (DBP) was the best authority to do so.
"For instance, MyFarm Outlet uses English, which can be difficult for the village folks to understand.
"It would be better if it is termed as Pemasaran Ladang Kami or Pemasaran Ladangku instead. In fact, DBP should be consulted before coming up with such terms," he was quoted as saying.
This comes after Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem yesterday said prioritising Bahasa Malaysia over English in education policies was "stupid".
The outspoken leader reportedly said that the country should place equal emphasis on both languages.
He highlighted that Singapore used English as its main language while giving equal attention to Mandarin and the Malay language there, before going on to say that Sarawak should push both English and Bahasa Malaysia.
He pointed out that English was a necessity in international trade, and that contracts were usually written in the language.
Last November 18, he announced that the state government was adopting English as Sarawak’s second official language and declaring that official correspondence could be in either English or BM.
On February 15, Adenan was reported saying that Malaysia should adopt English as its second language while keeping national language Bahasa Malaysia as the first language, arguing that the country risks being left behind and looking stupid if it doesn’t join the world in using the language.
On September 10, Adenan said the Sarawak state government will support the formation of English-medium mission and private schools that prioritise education in the world’s lingua franca.
