Malay urged as ASEAN language

Malay urged as ASEAN language

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malay and Indonesian, which are similar
and widely spoken in the region, should be made the second lingua
franca besides English within the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), a Malaysian official suggested yesterday.

Opening a meeting by the ASEAN culture and information
committee in the northern island resort of Langkawi, Information
Minister Mohamad Rahmat said adopting another language as a
second official medium of communication would foster greater
rapport among the peoples of ASEAN.

Mohamad said the Malay-Indonesian language could be promoted
and taught through lessons on the radio in member countries which
do not speak the language.

The national news agency Bernama quoted him as saying that
ASEAN should show a "spirit of solidarity" and consider adopting
the language as a common regional one since it has been spoken
and understood for centuries in the Malay archipelago.

Apart from Malaysia and Indonesia, Malay is an official
language in Brunei and Singapore, and also widely spoken in
southern Thailand, the southern Philippines and among the Champa
people of Cambodia.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It will be expanded later this
month to include Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.