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| LANGUAGE CAMP: Abdul Karim (second right) presents a certificate to one of the participants of the Language Camp 2012. Also seen are Asmiah (second left) and Dr Norazuna (right). |
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Bahasa Malaysia will continue to be the uniting factor for all the races and ethnics in the state, said Assistant Minister of Youth Development Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the three-day Language Camp 2012 at National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) Sarawak Campus here yesterday, Abdul Karim, highlighted the need for the national language to be given prominence in the state.
“The unity and harmony that we are enjoying among the races and ethnics in the state must be preserved no matter what.
“Therefore, the usage of Bahasa Malaysia, which has been the fundamental element of unity all this while among our people, must be given priority in the state’s administration, education and communications,” the Asajaya assemblyman said.
Abdul Karim, who is also Assistant Minister of Housing, said with the various balanced development programmes undertaken, the state government hoped that Sarawak would not be advanced only in politics, economics and social standards, but also in linguistics, literature and culture.
“With the smart partnership between the state government and federal government agencies such as Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and Intan, the linguistic and correspondence fields in the state will improve further,” he added.
As a way to strengthen the use of the national language among government departments, Abdul Karim urged all government departments to give priority to the use of Bahasa Malaysia in their official events and daily correspondences.
“Not only that, it is also the responsibility of all government departments to organise activities to encourage their officers to use Bahasa Malaysia more effectively and efficiently,” he said.
Besides government departments, Abdul Karim also urged the private sector to show their apprehension and commitment in helping to strengthen the usage of Bahasa Malaysia as the language of unity and public communications in the state.
“The effort to encourage the use of the national language in all areas does not mean that we ignore the learning and usage of other languages. Rather, what the government emphasises through agencies such as Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka is that in any official event or correspondence, the national language must be given priority,” he said.
On a personal note, Abdul Karim also suggested to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to look into the possibility of incorporating words used in languages of the different races to help strengthen the national language further.
Meanwhile, state Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka deputy director Asmiah Ajmain highlighted that this year’s Language Camp was well attended as it drew 43 participants who were all government servants working in Samarahan Division.
“The main objective of this Language Camp is to strengthen the use of Bahasa Malaysia among government servants. It is our hope that this camp will help to encourage the use of Bahasa Malaysia among our government departments in their daily correspondences,” she said.
The closing ceremony of the camp was also attended by Samarahan Resident Ismail Hanis, Unimas Language Studies Centre dean Dr Norazuna Norahim and Intan Sarawak Campus director Hussin Mahmud.
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