MAKE BAHASA MELAYU, BAHASA INDONESIA AS LANGUAGES OF KNOWLEDGE DAN COMMERCE

bY Ahmad Fuad Yahya
BUKITTINGGI (Bernama) - Malaysian and Indonesian
journalists and culture experts have been urged to jointly enhance the status of
Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia as the languages of knowledge, art and
commerce.

Minister of Information Communication and Culture Dr Rais Yatim in making
the call said elevating the status of the two languages which were spoken by 300
million people in Asean would make the languages respected internationally.

"The terminology committees of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka and Pusat Bahasa
Indonesia must find ways so that our languages have common general principles
and applicable terms in the region," he said here Saturday. Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka is Malaysia's Malay language centre while Pusat Bahasa Indonesia is the
centre of the Indonesian language.

He was speaking at the 2011 Meeting of Journalists and Culture Experts of
Malaysia and Indonesia which was participated by senior journalists and the
culture experts from both countries. It was officiated by Indonesian Minister of
Communications and Information, Tifatul Sembiring.

Earlier, he proposed that Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia be made the
lingua franca of Asean which could be compared with other leading world
languages such as French, Mandarin, Japanese and Arabic languages.

Rais also told seminar participants to accept the fact that the people of
Malaysia and Indonesia are of the homogeneous stock and shared common cultural
practice.

"Let us now look at our similarities and put aside our differences.

"If we do not strengthen these similarities, both languages would end up as
losers," he said.

The culture of the two communities in the two countries could become
contentious issues and create misunderstanding among the people.

The minister also told seminar participants to set up a network to rebuild
the language and culture to reflect the community's social daily lives.

The findings of the seminar he said should be brought to the governments of
the two countries for follow-up actions.

Meanwhile, Tifatul in his opening speech expressed his support for Dr Rais'
call that journalists and culture experts of the two countries highlighted the
similarities of language and culture to improve bilateral ties.

In protecting the cordial relations between the two countries, the media
should practise balanced reporting to cool down issues and not to sensationalise
issues to improve ratings.