Recently, Malaysia announced plans to propose Malay as the “second language” of ASEAN. With Malay being commonly spoken in the ASEAN bloc, it seemed like a reasonable request.
However, Indonesia has rejected the proposal and suggested Bahasa Indonesia as the second ASEAN language instead.
They also acknowledged that the proposal needs to be discussed further.
On 23 Mar, Malaysian Prime Minister (PM) Ismail Sabri said that he is looking to propose Malay as the second official language of the ASEAN bloc.
Then, on 5 Apr, The Star reported that Indonesia’s Minister for Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim rejected the proposal.
Instead, Mr Nadiem suggested that Bahasa Indonesia would be a better alternative.
He claimed that it is spoken across more than 47 countries. This makes it the most commonly used language in Southeast Asia.
He also claimed that university campuses all over the world, including Europe and the United States, teach Bahasa Indonesia. This gives more weight to the importance of the language.
Kompas Online quoted Nadiem as saying:
With all the advantages… it is more fitting for the Indonesian language to be at the forefront and as a medium of communication for official ASEAN meetings.
The Indonesian ministry, Kompas Online reports, is currently working on the international expansion, promotion, and protection of their language.
Although Mr Nadiem has rejected Malaysia’s proposal, The Star notes that he still expressed the need to discuss it further with ASEAN member states.
“As the Education and Culture Minister, I reject that proposal,” he said on Monday (4 Apr).
But since there is an intention by our neighbour to make Bahasa Malaysia as one of the official languages, surely it needs to be reviewed and debated further.
Previously, Mr Ismail Sabri said that Malay should be the second ASEAN language due to the frequency of its use across regional countries.
Furthermore, only four out of 10 ASEAN countries use English during official events. The rest require translations.
The proposal came after a push by Malaysia to promote Bahasa Melayu on an international level.
Considering the frequent use of both languages within the ASEAN bloc, there may be some value in both leaders’ proposals.
Since ASEAN often takes a co-operative approach to pertinent issues, we hope both parties and other members can reach a consensus.
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Featured image adapted from Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Facebook and Wikipedia.
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