The Malaysian Insight

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim today urged the public to stop questioning the status of Bahasa Malaysia as it brings no benefit.

He said attacks against the language should not continue, instead strengthen it to help achieve success in technological fields.

“For me, what is important is the quality, not the rhetoric that is continuously taking place,” he said in Johor today.

“We must have quality in education, quality in the use of the language, in science, in technological aspects such as information technology… all of which will save our race.

“As such, we should stop the attacks on Bahasa Malaysia and strengthen it clearly. We then take steps to achieve success in other fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, and internet of things.

“These are all very important but we are still fighting over the national language.”

The Port Dickson MP added that he is not sidelining the importance of Bahasa Malaysia.

“It has been 62 years since we gained independence. We should not be debating about this issue. Our duty now is to strengthen the language.”

Anwar questioned why people are still questioning the status of Bahasa Malaysia, as it is already stated in the federal constitution.

Debate over the language came to the fore following objections to the inclusion of Jawi in the Year Four Bahasa Malaysia syllabus for vernacular schools. – September 7, 2019.