KUALA LUMPUR: “I am not Malay, not Muslim, but the Malay language has long reigned in my heart,” said Munsyi Muda Bahasa (MMB) Lyn d’amor Buquing.

The Community Development Officer at the Sepang District Social Welfare Office said that the Malay language taught him about courtesy and respect in society.

He said the Malay language also made him believe that love and values ​​know no boundaries of race or belief.

“So I would like to ask, from the depths of my soul, if I, who am not Malay, can love this language with all my heart, why can’t we all?

“Why don’t you, who were born from the womb of this culture, stand on the land of its heritage?” he said at the Dalam Lumpur Language Martial Arts Young Munsyi Forum here on Wednesday.
When met yesterday, Lyn said she believed the Malay language would not disappear as long as the MMB voice continued to defend the language.

“This is because as MMB, we are not just guardians of grammar but also act as guardians of the nation’s heritage,” he said.

Meanwhile, MMB Dr V. Uma Thevi said mastering a language is not only about writing correctly, but also speaking from the soul, that is, pronouncing it eloquently and writing with a sincere heart.

“Therefore, this struggle will not stop here, but will be continued by educators, fighters and language lovers so that future generations continue to place the National Language in the highest place, higher than other languages.

Uma Thevi, who is also a Senior Lecturer in the Student Affairs Leadership and Counselling Department of the Aminuddin Baki Institute, Genting Highlands Branch, has also repeatedly stressed that the Malay language is her “heart”, as a native born in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Senior Training Consultant of the Chinese Language Unit of the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN)’s Communication and Language Studies Centre, Lai Yoon Huey said all parties need to encourage all citizens to continue learning to use standard Malay in their daily lives.

“Although it has become the custom for many to speak in Rojak, we need to learn to ensure that in official matters, we can use the correct standard Malay language.

“Not only young people now, even when I was a teenager, there were characteristics like this. There is indeed a tendency to mix Malay and non-Malay (languages) and it is difficult to avoid it, we can only encourage everyone to continue learning,” he said.

KOMUDA ’25 was organised by INTAN in collaboration with the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) in conjunction with the National Language Decade 2025, with the aim of creating a form of post-accreditation coordination structure for participants as MMB.

It aims to strengthen public sector language efforts and is a form of coordination and a platform for the exchange of experience for MMBs who have been appointed and accredited.

— BERNAMA