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Internationalisation of BM: Saifuddin Wrote to Blinken, Biden Understood Ismail but Indonesia Rejected the Idea.
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright May 2022
Going by what our PM said, we seem to be making great progress in getting the world to use Bahasa Melayu. The Prime Minister is confident US President Joe Biden understood what he delivered in Bahasa during ASEAN-US meet.
Well, that’s our PM’s view. But if Biden had listened to the interpreter well, he would not have had any difficulty understanding what was said by the PM. His interpreter would have spoken in American English. Not in Bahasa!
This recent development follows the initial step taken by our Foreign Minister who initially wrote in Bahasa Malaysia to Blinken, the US Secretary of State.
Ismail Sabri claimed he had spoken in the national language at the ASEAN-US Special Summit held recently in Washington. He reckoned that the contents of his speech were well-received. (If you say so, Sir!)
He said it again a few days later at a symposium on internationalising Bahasa Malaysia, “The message that I conveyed was clearly accepted by the American president, even though I spoke in Bahasa Melayu”.
The PM has been telling us that he used BM here and there and everyone understood and accepted his messages.
However, he never mentioned what messages did he convey? We were never told what messages he brought to the meeting or what he said to Biden.
Neither did he say what results the obtained from his meetings? There was no joint communique between the parties that he met. What goals do they plan to achieve? How much investment, support or aid for the country did we get from the combined efforts of 6 ministers that joined his encouragement?
All we heard loud and clear was that the US wanted a closer relationship with ASEAN. That they planned on “maintaining their relationships for generations to come” and they threw in USD150 million to help with regional infrastructure development. That message is clear.
That is peanuts in comparison to the USD1.5 billion that China had provided for the ASEAN region. The US wanted to buy influence but did not put the money where the mouth is!
China’s President used Mandarin, US Biden and Kamala spoke in American English and we are sure Jokowi spoke in Bahasa Indonesia. But the messages they conveyed were highlighted loud and clear.
China did in monetary terms that were well understood by all – USD1.5 billion.
The US did not hide their intention but the world understood USD150 million was hardly a week’s supply of weapons they threw into Ukraine. That message came very loud and clear too. That ASEAN is no Ukraine. It shows, that the region is not as important as Europe.
Did you understand that message, Mr PM Sir?
Jokowi got along with Elon Musk and understood each other well, possibly assisted by interpreters. He brought home more than our PM did. That was the message Jokowi told his people. He did not go on the media telling his people how eloquent he spoke in Bahasa Indonesia.
At the above-mentioned symposium, the PM said, “I have also initiated bilateral negotiations using the Malay language and there are no defects in the negotiations.”
Yes, sir – but what were the results of the negotiations? That’s what we are interested to know. The country is in dire need of FDI and our money is spiralling downwards possibly touching RM5 for every US dollar in the near future.
What did you and your six ministers do in Washington DC besides speaking in Bahasa Malaysia?
Our PM is trying hard to popularise BM by making it an ASEAN official language too but Indonesia has serious objections to that idea.
Their Education Minister did not mince words in his objection. Instead, he pushed for Bahasa Indonesia and we think they might win hands down because Bahasa Indonesia is the most widely used language in Southeast Asia.
So, what have we got with BM to date? Indonesia is reluctant to help internationalise BM in the region. They wanted their own language.
The US does not give a hoot in what language we spoke. They are more interested in pushing down our throats their own agenda.
China understood ASEAN very well because money talks.
That is the message, Mr PM, Sir. So, what’s next?
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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