MALAY LANGUAGE RISKS BECOMING "FOREIGN LANGUAGE" AMONG S'PORE MALAYS WRITER By By Zakaria Abdul Wahab

SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- Malay language is in danger of becoming a foreign language among the Singapore Malays within the next 10 to 15 years if they continue to ignore its usage, an observer here said.

Sairi H. A. Manan, in a commentary published in Berita Harian, the sole
Malay language newspaper in Singapore, said the Malays in the republic should
not neglect their mother tongue.

Many among Malay senior civil servants could no longer speak the language
as
fluently as their predecessors, wrote Sairi.

He commended Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for delivering an eloquent
speech in Malay during the Singapore national day rally speech recently.


It has been a tradition in Singapore for the prime minister to deliver the
annual national day rally speech in three languages -- Malay, Mandarin and
English.


Sairi said it was easy to understand Lee's speech as he spoke in simple
Malay.

The importance given to the Malay language by the prime minister was in
line
with the emphasis on learning a mother tongue alongside English, as advocated by
the Singapore government, he added.

Sairi said Lee set a good example for other leaders and Singaporeans,
especially the Malays, to emulate.

However, the writer questioned why signboards were written only in English
and Mandarin and did not include the use of Tamil and Malay.

There are four official languages in Singapore, namely English, Mandarin,
Malay and Tamil.