PETALING JAYA – It is imperative for Malaysians to master foreign languages like Korean, Japanese and others, apart from English, to ensure they are better equipped to face future challenges.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said the Covid-19 pandemic was an eye-opener on how small the world really is and how societies are interdependent on one another for trade and commerce.
“Language barriers invariably become impediments and hence the urgent need to liberalise the study of other languages, as options in our learning institutions, for the purposes of trade, commerce and investments.
“Bahasa Malaysia is the national language of Malaysia, as provided for by law as well, and the majority of Malaysians speak more than two languages and dialects, given our multicultural, multiethnic, and multilingual society.
“However, in primary and secondary school levels, or even in our institutions of higher learning, no alternative foreign languages are provided and at university level, the likelihood of learning another foreign language is confined to the departments of linguistics only,” she said in a statement.
With Malaysia strategically having one of the world’s busiest ports in the world along the Straits of Malacca which brings in huge foreign trade and investments, it becomes imperative that the workforce master foreign languages, said Kok.
“Since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took office in November 2022, he has been on a mission to lure and captivate foreign investors to make Malaysia an attractive country.
“He has brought in over RM200 billion in investments from his 17 working trips including to the United Arab Emirates, United States of America, China and many others.
“Investments of this magnitude certainly need local manpower to be able to cope, facilitate and ease communications between the parties,” she added.
In the case of Europe, she said over 65% of the population on the continent can speak one other language other than their native mother tongue.
She said multilingualism is fast catching up where children are taught their native language and exposed to another language, which will make it easier for them, as adults, to conduct commerce and trade, travel and communicate with their European counterparts.
“Malaysia must do more to invest and in encouraging students, youths and young adults to learn additional foreign languages, particularly one that will help them with their careers and future endeavours in their working lives, while at the same time to be masters in their national language Bahasa Malaysia.
“Multilingualism is the way forward and with such grand investments, we must take the proverbial ‘bull by the horns’ and expedite the promotion and elevation of learning new foreign languages,” she added. – The Vibes, November 1, 2023
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