PM: Malaysia and Indonesia Agrees to Strengthen Bahasa Melayu, May Become Official ASEAN Language

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has announced that Malaysia and Indonesia will work together to uplift the status of Bahasa Melayu and lauded the possibility of it becoming an official ASEAN language in the future. Ismail, who met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo yesterday as part of his official visit to the Republic also thanked the support from the President.

As reported by national news agency Bernama, Ismail Sabri was quoted of saying,

“We would like to thank the Bapak Presiden (Indonesian President) for agreeing with Malaysia to enhance Bahasa Melayu, which has common roots for us,”

In case you didn’t know, Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of Indonesia has the same roots as Bahasa Melayu. Despite the language being spoken natively by only 7% of its population during Indonesia’s independence in 1945, the new country adopted Bahasa Melayu as its official language partly due to how widely spoken and understood it is by the approximately 1,340 ethnicities in the vast islands of Indonesia.

In fact, the declaration of Indonesian independence by its first President, Sukarno was made in Bahasa Melayu, despite himself being a Javanese and the Javanese language having the most native speakers in the country. This was a testament to Bahasa Melayu’s popularity and previous status as lingua franca in the Southeast Asian region.

Now, the joint efforts between both Malaysia and Indonesia is hoped by Ismail Sabri to reinvigorate Bahasa Melayu and make it an official ASEAN language.  The Prime Minister further said that the language is widely used in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Southern Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines.

What do you guys think of the efforts by both Malaysia and Indonesia to uplift the status of Bahasa Melayu? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Also read: PM: Govt Will Make It Compulsory For All Foreign Students In M’sia To Learn BM