Malaysian PM Proposes Malay To Be The Second Language Of ASEAN

President Joko Widodo received an official visit from the Prime Minister (PM) of Malaysia, Dato 'Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob at the Bogor Palace, November 10, 2021 (Photo: BPMI Setpres/Laily Rachev)

JAKARTA - Malaysia made a surprising proposal. Malaysia wants to make Malay the second language of ASEAN.

This was conveyed by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Wednesday, March 23, as quoted from Channel News Asia. He will even discuss with regional leaders so that this proposal can be achieved.

Ismail Sabri said apart from Malaysia, Malay is already used in several ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines, and parts of Cambodia.

During his recent visit to Cambodia, he was told 800,000 Cham-Malays speak Malay and in Vietnam. Then there are about 160,000 Malay speakers among those who are of Cham-Malay descent.

There is also a small population of Malay speakers in Laos, he added.

"That's why all over ASEAN there are people who can speak Malay. Therefore there is no reason why we cannot make Malay one of the official languages of ASEAN", said Ismail Sabri.

The prime minister added that he would discuss the matter with his ASEAN counterparts.

"I will discuss with the leaders of other ASEAN countries, especially in countries that already use the Malay language. I will discuss with them about making Malay a second language in ASEAN. After that, we will discuss with the leaders of other ASEAN countries who have Malay-speaking residents", said Mr. Ismail Sabri

Malaysia flag illustration (Photo by M Zhou on Unsplash)