PETALING JAYA: The Higher Education Ministry has recommended that the government establish a Bahasa Malaysia language development steering committee for higher education institutions (HEIs), says Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad.

       The Higher Education Minister said this is in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s call for government officials to speak Bahasa Malaysia at conferences.

       She said the committee’s role would include planning the mapping of programmes for various activities, such as research, Bahasa Malaysia language development in HEIs in other Asean countries, and translation and adaptation programmes.

       “The ministry has identified 19 universities in Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines that have the potential to hold collaborative programmes with our local universities.

       “As such, the ministry has appointed Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia through Institut Alam dan Tamadun Melayu as the secretariat to start strategic cooperation to develop important aspects of Malay civilisation at the international level,” she said in a statement on Monday (March 7).

       With approximately 300 million Bahasa Malaysia speakers in countries where the language is spoken, and in other Asean countries where there are communities that speak the language, Noraini said Bahasa Malaysia development programmes in HEIs in other Asean countries can boost the status and role of the language as not only a lingua franca, but as a language of knowledge and of economic value in the region.