With China emerging as an economy superpower, many countries are seeking to strengthen ties with China for mutual benefits. Our Prime Minister has certainly done a great job in this aspect as Najib has signed 14 agreements worth RM144 billion during his recent trip to China, according to FMT. Not bad Jibby…
Therefore, it is not a surprise when an Umno delegate labeled China as “the future” during the 2016 UMNO General Assembly. According to Datuk Dr Wan Norashikin who is the Pasir Salak Umno delegate, Malaysians should take initiatives to establish good relationships with China.
Source: Kini TV
“China is the future. We have to learn their language, to expand our knowledge and future,”
– Datuk Dr Wan Norashikin
She also said that if Malaysians wanted to be taken seriously by China as business partner, they must first learn Mandarin in order to eliminate the language barrier. Therefore, she urged Malays to be proactive in learning Mandarin.
“It may be difficult (to learn Mandarin), but we must keep trying to improve our knowledge and for our future,” said Dr Norashikin.
The Pasir Salak Umno delegate also went the extra mile of quoting an idiom in Mandarin which carry the message of “a person is useful only if he or she is knowledgeable”.
Source: Malaysian Chinese News / Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia
Building on that, on behalf of Umno, she urged the Education Ministry to open more Mandarin elective classes in primary schools to help the Malays in learning Mandarin. She added that this effort is to produce a new generation that can take advantage of the opportunity in collaborating with China.
She also said that Malaysians who can speak Mandarin are preferred by China’s employers when they are looking for local professionals to join their company.
Being multilingual does have its benefits. And that is especially true as Chinese employers recently expressed their interest to hire Malaysians.
Read more: Malaysians who can speak Mandarin and English are highly wanted in China
