KUALA LUMPUR, 6 July 2017:
The decision by the Cabinet to rescind the waiver on the Bahasa Melayu requirement for jobs in the civil service has been received well.
Malaysian Muslim Doctors Organisation (PERDIM) president Datuk Dr Ahmad Shukri Ismail said he fully supported the decision and stressed there should not be any compromise when it came to the national language.
”I fully support the decision and thank Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the Cabinet for their concern and firmness.
“It is very important for our young to know and be fluent in Bahasa Melayu because it indicates love and respect for the nation and also Bahasa Melayu as the national language.”
He also stressed that if any changes were to be made especially on matters enshrined in the federal constitution, they must first be tabled before the Cabinet.
The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday announced the Cabinet had decided to withdraw the relaxation on the qualifying condition of a credit in Bahasa Melayu at the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia level for contract appointment of a Grade UD41 medical officer.
Ahmad Zahid said Bahasa Melayu is the national language of the federation, in line with Article 152 of the Federal Constitution and National Language Act.
Echoing the same opinion, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Institute of Ethnic Studies principal fellow prof Datuk Dr Teo Kok Seong said the decision coincided with the effort and policy of the government to uphold Bahasa Melayu as the national language as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
He said it was the priority of every Malaysian citizen to uphold Bahasa Melayu and this must always be respected.
“I support the decision which sets the requirement of passing Bahasa Melayu for all positions in the civil service.If they didn’t sit for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Bahasa Melayu paper, they must sit for any Bahasa Melayu examination which is on par with SPM.”
Pertubuhan Cendekiawan dan Profesional Malaysia (CenPro) deputy president Razak Rashid Ghows, in a statement, said an auditing system must be conducted to ensure the implementation of Bahasa Melayu as a condition for recruitment encompassing all posts at all levels in the government administration.
He also urged the Public Service Department (PSD) to take stringent and proactive action to ensure the correct usage of Bahasa Melayu among officers and government personnel in all sectors.
“We also laud the decision which gives a second chance to contract Medical Officers to sit for the single Bahasa Melayu examination as announced by the Deputy Prime Minister.”
Rashid also suggested the condition requiring a pass in Bahasa Melayu be upgraded in future to at least a credit to ensure the ability of medical officers to speak and write Bahasa Melayu well.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, in a statement, prior to this, said the PSD on Feb 23 had consented to relax the condition for contractual appointments to the post of Grade UD41Medical Officers in the Health Ministry.
He said the move was made to facilitate the contractual appointments of UD41 Grade Medical Officers for medical graduates who did not sit for the SPM examination due to various reasons.
– Bernama