Kuala Lumpur - Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had expected trouble when the Penang government decided to put up multilingual road signs in the city.
He said the state government should have left things alone and continued with practices that were accepted by the people at large, including the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the uniting factor for all races.
Two multilingual road signs in Lebuh Acheh, which had words in Arabic, were splashed with red paint between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
"If one tries to accommodate all the existing languages used by Malaysians, one will need a bigger signboard.
"Can you imagine what would happen if the Iban, Kadazan, Murut and other indigenous groups decide they, too, wanted their languages to be on road signs?" Shafie said at the presentation of an excellence award for the restoration of Stadium Merdeka yesterday.
The minister stressed that the use of Bahasa Malaysia was not a form of suppression of the diverse cultures in Malaysia.
"The ministry has undertaken various efforts to promote local cultures," he said as he urged more corporate players to help preserve the nation`s heritage.
The ministry, said Shafie, had a list of about 200 heritage sites that the corporate sector could adopt as part of their corporate social responsibility.
On yesterday`s meeting with representatives from Penang and Malacca, Shafie said all parties had again been reminded to take extra care when carrying out physical development to avoid losing the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Site status.
"This is what is happening in Germany, where a heritage site is in danger of losing the Unesco seal due to development."
It was reported that the construction of a four-lane bridge at Dresden, Germany, has put Dresden`s Elbe Valley on the list of places that may lose the heritage status next year. By: Azura Abas
Source:
http://www.nst.com.my (November 25, 2008)