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.