The Federation of National Writers Association (Gapena) has blamed liberalisation in education and human rights is threatening the position of Bahasa Malaysia as a national language.

Gapena chief Abdul Latiff Abu Bakar told reporters that the two factors had led to the “excessive” freedom to use other language and thus Bahasa Malaysia was facing relegation.

“The problem Malaysia is facing now is, we use languages at our whim and fancy in all the places. I feel offended because they don’t respect our national language.

“(Such trend) was influenced by the theories of liberalisation and human rights, to the extent that Bahasa was sidelined,” said the Malacca Art Institute chairperson at national language agency Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Abdul Latiff stressed that the national language must be prioritised even though other languages are allowed to flourish.

“We don't want to be like Singapore or Switzerland, they are small countries without identity, that’s why they use English (as their common language).

“In Malaysia, we have our own language. We must be like China, Japan or South Korea,” he said.

'MCA not patriotic'

Earlier, Abdul Latiff spoke at a language seminar in Kuala Lumpur, in which he introduced a 35-member monitoring council that will police the use of the languages in public.

He said that while it was okay for government agencies to be bi-lingual, Bahasa Malaysia must take priority over others.

“For example I found it strange to see MCA conduct their assembly in foreign languages. It shows that they are not patriotic,” he said.

He said that the council will issue advisories to those who do not comply and reflect the council’s feedback to various quarters.