AYER KEROH, Oct 8 — Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) will increase Bahasa Malaysia courses at universities abroad to uplift the national language.
DBP Language and Literature Development Department director Mohd Salahuddin Mohamed said some of the universities are in China, Thailand and Japan.
“In China, there are 15 universities that have established a faculty of Malay studies, eight in Thailand, and in Japan, there are universities that offer Malay subjects,” he said when met by reporters at Melaka’s National Language Month launch here today.
Salahuddin said DBP sends Bahasa Malaysia subject reference books to Japan, and that the agency holds a Bahasa Malaysia speech competition between universities in China.
He added that as of September, DBP received about 120,000 applications for the verification of Bahasa Malaysia usage for licences under local authorities to post advertisements, signs or business boards in public places.
“Throughout last year we received 122,000 applications …. If we look at the awareness, it is very good for the effort to promote the national language.
“The validation is important to ensure signs are displayed according to language usage criteria in terms of names, spelling, and others,” he said.
— Bernama
