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Please Freeze All Cabinet Decisions On The Baku Pronunciation In Malaysia Statement by Dr Tan Seng Giaw, DAP National Vice-Chairman and MP for Kepong on the Baku (Standard) Pronunciation for Bahasa Malaysia. 10.2.2000 | |||||||
| The national language, Bahasa Malaysia, is modern Malay. Like all languages, BM has many types of pronunciation. Johore-Riau pronunciation was regarded as a standard until 12 years ago, when Baku pronunciation, Sebutan Baku (Standard), was introduced. Schools and a television station, TV3, have been using Baku. Last month, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dato' Rais Yatim announced a ban on the use of Baku pronunciation in all local broadcasting stations. Then, the Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the Cabinet agreed that the decision on the use of Baku in schools was deferred. Yesterday, the Education Minister Tan Sri Musa Mohamad confirmed that Baku could only be used in the teaching and learning of BM subject in schools and that all other subjects were taught in ordinary pronunciation. The series of Cabinet decisions on Baku has produced various reactions. The | |
Cabinet overreacts. The Baku pronunciation, you pronounce as you spell--spelling pronunciation which is regarded as mispronunciation in English--has been introduced for 12 years. Before that, the standard or ordinary Johore-Riau pronunciation was taught in schools. Now, ordinary pronunciation is used in all fields including almost all school subjects. This menas that students learn Baku as they would learn the dead language of Latin or Sanskrit or the little known international language Esperanto. Since Baku will not be used in virtually all activities, what is the use of learning a dead pronunciation? Hence, I hope that the Cabinet will freeze the series of decisions on Baku. Subsequently, it should carry out a comprehensive study on the type of BM pronunciation which is acceptable by most. This should take not just a few days but one or two years or more so that the best solution to Baku can be found.
Dr Tan Seng Giaw | |||||
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