Singapore wants more non-Malays to speak bahasa<\/p>\n
Agencies
\nSingapore<\/p>\n
Singapore wants to promote the Indonesian and Malaysian languages
\nin the predominantly ethnic Chinese city-state to strengthen ties
\nwith its Malay-Muslim neighbors, the country's education ministry
\nsaid on Friday.<\/p>\n
Singapore wants up to 15 percent of its non-Malay citizens to
\nmaster the Malay or Indonesian languages, it said.<\/p>\n
The plan would mirror the government's existing campaign to
\nencourage some Singaporeans to excel in Mandarin and study
\nChinese culture and history in depth to enable them to take
\nadvantage of business opportunities in China' s booming economy.<\/p>\n
\"We must get 10 percent to 15 percent of our non-Malay
\npopulation fluent in bahasa,\" Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said,
\naccording to a report in Friday's Business Times newspaper.<\/p>\n
\"Bahasa\" is word for language in both Malay and Indonesian;
\nthe two languages are very similar.<\/p>\n
The affluent island's population of 4.2 million is a polyglot
\ncommunity of ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians and there are
\nfour official languages -- English, Mandarin Chinese, bahasa
\nMalay and Tamil.<\/p>\n
An Education Ministry spokeswoman said the government was
\nlooking to launch the program in two years.<\/p>\n
Singapore's founding premier Lee Kuan Yew said on Thursday the
\ntiny city-state's language deficiency was highlighted during
\nSingapore's military deployment to help Indonesia after last
\nyear's tsunami disaster hit its northern Aceh province.<\/p>\n
Lee, who as \"Minister Mentor\" holds the third most powerful
\npost in the cabinet, said students should learn to understand,
\nspeak and read basic bahasa -- or \"mother tongue\" in Malaysian
\nand Indonesian.<\/p>\n
\"We learnt from our experience in Aceh that we need more
\nSingaporeans who can speak bahasa, either bahasa Malaysia or
\nBahasa Indonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"When Indonesian military commanders briefed our mission in
\nBanda Aceh, only PM Lee, Defense Minister Teo (Chee Hean) and a
\nfew SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) officers understood them.\"<\/p>\n
Lee, 81, who was the country's first prime minister for 31
\nyears, said some 10-15 percent of Singapore's non-Malay
\npopulation should be fluent in bahasa.<\/p>\n
Lee is also the founder of the long-ruling People's Action
\nParty and father of Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
\nAbout 14 percent of Singapore's population are Malay, while more
\nthan three quarters are Chinese and some eight percent are
\nIndian.<\/p>\n
Relations between Indonesia and Singapore, marked by periodic
\nfriction since Indonesian president Soeharto stepped down in
\n1998, have warmed after Singaporean troops delivered some of the
\nfirst foreign aid to Indonesia's tsunami-hit provinces Aceh and
\nMeulaboh.<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia's two quarrelsome neighbors, Malaysia and
\nSingapore, have also mended fences to work on resolving long-
\nstanding disputes.<\/p>",
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