As Malaysians, there is no doubt for us to speak and understand the national language fluently – Bahasa Melayu. At the same time, as Malaysians, there is nothing wrong if we speak multiple languages. That’s the beauty of living in Malaysia.
Just before Raya, JAKIM shared a programme by a local Chinese radio station, which revolves around how Muslims celebrate Hari Raya. The programme was presented through a special sketch called “Happy Days” but some Malaysians are NOT happy with how Jakim shared the announcement.
“Chinese language over BM?”
In a post that has since been removed, JAKIM shared the announcement in 2 languages – Chinese followed by BM, both languages that are spoken by Malaysians.
Some of them were not happy to see the Chinese language appearing first in the announcement before the national language of Malaysia. Unfortunately, some social media users also went as far as accusing JAKIM of prioritising other languages other than BM and making the national language the 2nd language of Malaysia.
JAKIM even took the extra mile by reposting the article in BM 1st followed by Chinese but the criticisms didn’t stop.
Following the unnecessary and unexpected backlash, JAKIM decided to remove the post. In another post shared on Jakim’s socials @myJAKIM, the organisation clarified the situation via a statement and denied ALL allegations.
“We were merely promoting the sketch”
In its statement, JAKIM said the criticisms are all baseless accusations and they are, in no way, making BM the 2nd language despite sharing a poster that was mainly designed in Chinese words.
They also explained briefly about the deleted post, saying,
“We were only promoting the poster, which was a Raya programme scheduled for Chinese Muslims in Malaysia.”
Here’s what the poster stated in the Chinese language.
“Aidilfitri is an auspicious and happy festival for Muslims around the world to celebrate after the successful completion of a month of fasting. How do Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr?”
Tuduhan JAKIM menjadikan Bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa kedua kerana menyiarkan poster dalam tulisan Mandarin adalah tidak berasas.
Poster tersebut adalah salah satu bahan promosi bagi rancangan Radio Ai FM yang disiarkan dalam bahasa mandarin kepada masyarakat
Cina Muslim. pic.twitter.com/QQC2tLxZa7— JAKIM (@MyJAKIM) April 9, 2024
Now that JAKIM has cleared the air, what do you think of this?
