By: Nurul Ezzaty Mohd Azhari
Photo: Mohammad Izrul Abdul Jabar
SERDANG, August 21 – In an endeavour to uphold and enhance the prestige of the Malay language on the global stage, the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication (FBMK) at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) took the initiative to organise the first series of Forum Perdana Pengantarabangsaan Bahasa Melayu (The Internationalisation of the Malay Language Forum).
The forum discussed the strengthening of the Malay language at the international level and gathered panels from various countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
The Dean of FBMK, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hazlina Abdul Halim expressed the faculty’s commitment to consistently undertake initiatives and fulfil responsibilities aimed at upholding the Malay language’s dignity. This will ensure its continued relevance and alignment with evolving times.
"The effort to strengthen and uphold the Malay language’s dignity is not a seasonal action or confined to a certain period. Such action causes instability in the language’s progression and certainty.
"UPM prioritises the effort to enhance students’ mastery and proficiency of the Malay language. This is evident through the mandatory Communication Test in Malay or UKOM for all UPM students, as part of their graduation criteria.”
"The administrators use the Malay language in all meetings, correspondences, and e-mail communication," she stated at the Rashdan Baba Auditorium, Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research & Innovation) today.
Furthermore, the Malay language possesses scholarly and refined attributes that make it a solid foundation for the dissemination and advancement of knowledge.
This forum also serves as an effort to cultivate the Malay language as a language of knowledge and to establish the Malay language as an intermediary language in the Nusantara countries.
