Dewan Bahasa slammed for ‘ridiculous’ reprimand of civil servants using English

Free Malaysia Today

Ramon Navaratnam says it is wrong to accuse civil servants of disrespecting the constitution and calls for high-level intervention.  Read More: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/03/29/dewan-bahasa-slammed-for-ridiculous-reprimand-of-civil-servants-using-english/  Laporan Lanjut: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2025/03/29/tak-masuk-akal-dbp-tegur-penjawat-awam-guna-bahasa-inggeris/  Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5 Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTNews #DewanBahasaDanPustaka #English #CivilServants

Transcript

00:00A former senior government official has criticized Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka for reprimanding

00:07civil servants over their use of English in the names of government programs, premises,

00:12courses and campaigns.

00:15Former Transport Ministry Secretary General Ramon Navaratnam said it was wrong for DBP

00:20Director General Hazami Jahari to label everybody who uses English in government material as

00:25disrespecting the federal constitution.

00:29He said the government should discuss this issue at the cabinet level because one misguided

00:34directive can cause confusion and misunderstanding.

00:38Meanwhile, former Trade and Industry Minister Rafida Aziz called the statement backwards,

00:44saying many nations prioritize English for its vital role in enabling effective communication

00:49and accessing a vast repository of knowledge.

00:53Rafida said in her time, the fluency of Malaysian officials in English made the use of interpreters

00:59at international meetings unnecessary.

01:03She urged DBP to drop its cocooned mindset, reminding the agency that there was an entire

01:08world beyond Malaysia's borders.

01:12Hazami had said official reprimands were issued to event organizers and management-level staff

01:17for using English at official functions attended by Malaysians and claimed that civil servants

01:22who did not use Bahasa Melayu in government affairs were disrespecting the federal constitution.

01:29Narmada Raja, FMT

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