KUALA LUMPUR - Non-Malays must also champion the use of Bahasa Malaysia as it is not only for the Malays but for all Malaysians, said Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.
“It is the duty of all citizens of this country to enhance the status of Bahasa Malaysia at the international level.
“I hope to see Bahasa Malaysia become a language of knowledge, like French, Russian, Japanese and the Korean language,” he said at the Citra Wangsa Malaysia 2006 awards presentation at Angkasapuri here tonight.
The problems in Bahasa Malaysia usage like adulteration, lack of understanding, enforcement and the language policy itself must first be resolved, he added.
Rais, however, praised the efforts of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) in organising the awards presentation with the cooperation of the Broadcasting Department (RTM).
Among the awards was the Kencana Report Award, with the top place won by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Second was Universiti Utara Malaysia and third, the Employees Provident Fund.
The Citra Annual Report Award went to Public Bank Berhad, while Nestle Products (M) Sdn Bhd won in two categories — Citra Newspaper Advertisement Award for its Nespray product and Citra Radio Advertisement Award for Coffee Mate.
Telekom Malaysia Berhad won the award in the television advertisement category (Internet Dumping-Internet Safety).
Five other incentive awards in different categories were presented to film director/producer Shuhaimi Baba for her movie “Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam II, lyricist Habsah Hassan for the song “Wajah”, and Yu Chu Ting for the sub-titles for the telenovela “Luna La Heredera”.
Celcom (M) Berhad also received the award (Communications and Multimedia Industry category), Public Bank Berhad (Financial Institutions) and HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad (Foreign-owned Institutions).
The awards were introduced in 1997 to give recognition to individuals, institutions and agencies for excellent use of Bahasa Malaysia in their respective fields.
Sumber : www.theborneopost.com (24 Mei 2008)
