LETTERS: The government should empower Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to encourage the use of Bahasa Malaysia among Malaysians.
Start by encouraging all schools and government departments to use Malay greetings — "Selamat Pagi, Selamat Petang and Selamat Malam".
I remember a time when Malaysians used to express such greetings, including Radio and Television Malaysia (RTM) announcers.
The radio announcer would also narrate Malay phrases after the morning news.
Later, they changed the Malay greetings to Arabic salutations. Following that, all schools, government departments and Malays followed suit.
To move towards the original greeting, the Education Department should teach lessons of Malay folklore in primary schools. There are many such stories. The best one is "Sang Kancil".
The next avenue in promoting a language is through films and dramas. TV1 showed Malay films produced and directed by several great names such as L. Krishnan, Salleh Ghani, P. Ramlee and Jins Shamsuddin.
DBP should send Malay scholars to schools to help instil the Malay language, spirit, customs and culture. Recently, the prime minister said that he will not compromise on using Bahasa Malaysia.
Malaysians who understand the importance of the national language will support the move which will also help in uniting the people.
ABDULLAH SANI ISMAIL
Tanah Merah, Kelantan
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times