KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will use Bahasa Malaysia when delivering his speech at two international conferences scheduled to take place later this year.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said the international conferences are the Asean summit, expected to take place this November, and the United Nations conference in the third week of September.
“Leaders from other countries who attend such a big conference also use their national languages, so we do not need to feel awkward.
“Next week, the prime minister will make official visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and there he will use Bahasa Malaysia,” he told a press conference at the Parliament building here today.
Yesterday, Ismail Sabri said he will confer with Asean leaders to propose the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the region’s second language, in efforts to elevate the mother tongue at the international level.
Saifuddin said the ministry fully supported the prime minister’s aspirations and had made specific and immediate preparations in terms of proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia and proficiency in the five major foreign languages used by the UN.
He said the move also involved, among others, reintroducing the third-language allowance as a motivation for the ministry officials to learn foreign languages.
“Before this, there was a third-language allowance. We will discuss with the Public Service Department how to reintroduce the allowance.
“However, we feel that this is not only for our officers but also for officers from other ministries who work abroad,” he said.
He added that Wisma Putra will start sending official letters to foreign countries using Bahasa Malaysia with translations. – Bernama, March 24, 2022
