By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Shahiddan Saidi

PUTRAJAYA, April 15 2016 – Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak has pledged to  preserve the Malay Language as the premier language of the country.

He said although the government accommodates the English Language and other language in the national education system, the government will not waive from implementing the Malay language as the language of instruction at all levels of formal education.

“As an effort to expand and strengthen Malay civilization and Malay Language, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Malay language institute Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) have been urged to step up efforts in cooperation with institutions abroad,” Najib said in his speech at the  2016 Prime Minister’s Cup International Malay Language Public Speaking Competition  here recently.

He said  the government had established several Malay Studies Chairs at universities abroad to develop the Malay Language to an international level

He stated that the government also have collaborations using other approaches to expand Malay Language use in others country.

He said in the present world context, Malay has been deemed as one of 10 world principal languages,  and with 300 million speakers it is ranked the fifth largest in the world in terms of number of speakers.

The Prime Minister also regarded the public speaking event as a strong basis to make Malay a world-class modern language in keeping with the times, and not just a game between public speakers.

In the competition, Japanese speaker Hatsune Yanai was crowned champion in the International category.