Monday, April 25, 2005

Maju Bahasa Maju bangsa or Maju Bangsa Maju Bahasa

Personally, I did really enjoy when reading the ideas and opinions written by A Bakri Musa, a surgeon based in Silicon Valley, California. Recently, in the Guest Column, The Sun Weekend (April 23-24, 2005) he discussed about the position of our national language and Malay community.
He said ...' developing the Malay language is not the same as developing the Malay community. Measures that help one may not be beneficial to, and indeed may hinder, the other'... and ' Malay language has grown immensly since the country's independence, yet there is no comparable progress of the Malay community. Malay language has proven itself capable of use at the highest level, yet Malays still need substantial quotas to enter our universities.'
Actually, his comments are the reflection for the resolution made by Second Malay Education Congress which was the needs for more government help in guarding and developing the Malay language. A. bakri added, 'while we can force the growth of the Malay language by passing laws, developing the Malay community is a much more monumental undertaking'...
What we need to think and ponder here is how the Japanese and Koreans can develop their nations and place their languages as a must-learn for the others who want to know their technologies.

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