DPM: Translation of Official Statements into Other Languages Not Wrong

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BM is official tongue, but fine to also use other languages.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail came to the defence of Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng who has been heavily criticised for including a Mandarin translation in an official government statement.

Dr Wan Azizah said the government maintains the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the official language in all government matters.

She, however, said it was not wrong for ministries to translate official statements into other languages, including English and Mandarin.

“It has been our policy for a long time that the official language is the national language. But if anyone (or any ministry) would like to offer translations (into other languages), it is not wrong.

Roslin Mat Tahir

“As said by the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, this is not an issue,” she told reporters after attending the Institut Darul Ehsan Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house yesterday.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also Pakatan Harapan and PKR president, further said there was no need to politicise the issue.

“We have translations, even if we see wayang (movies), there are also subtitles, right?”

Dr Mahathir had on June 25 said the matter was not one that should be turned into a big issue.

Lim had also issued a statement rubbishing the allegation, citing the ministry’s website as proof.

He had said any official statement in Bahasa Malaysia would be translated into English for the foreign media and when there was a need, it would be translated into Mandarin.

The issue arose when Lim posted a statement in Mandarin on his social media account on June 24, receiving backlash from various quarters. – NST