Language barriers hit UN session

Language barriers hit UN session

Unlike most United Nations meetings, Friday's UN plenary meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, turned into a language game during the voting session to decide on the participation of a pro-Tibet organization at the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The voting process, which started at 10 a.m, was very formal at the beginning. As time went by, however, participants apparently started to get bored. Variations of answers then brought up in the plenary meeting, including using their own language, although the chairman already ruled that delegates must say "yes" or "no".

When, the turn went to the Saudi Arabian delegate, the delegate firmly said "naam" which confused the meeting's chairman.

The chairman asked the delegate to clarify, who then explained that naam means "yes, sir" in support of China's motion to exclude the group.