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I am unable to fathom the reasons for the reinstatement of pelajaran in place of pendidikan in the Bahasa Malaysia title for the Education Ministry.

Although in its early days the ministry was known as Kementerian Pelajaran, many educators felt that this term was not appropriate. It was changed subsequently to pendidikan . But now we witness a reversal out of the blue.

Pelajaran

is more formal in nature and does not reflect the hidden curricula that are meant to be imparted to the students. Pendidika n can aptly be translated as education in English. Indonesia has been using pendidikan all the while.

The politicians have been changing policies without taking proper advice. I am sure that Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) was not consulted on this matter.

Just a few years ago, Bahasa Baku was unceremoniously shelved, although the baku concept upholds the linguistic principle that the Malay language is pronounced according to the spelling and is spelt according to the pronunciation.

Judging from the responses of officials at seminars, the DBP, which is supposed to be the guardian of Bahasa Melayu, was not consulted. Most Malay linguists have lambasted this high-handed attitude of the politicians whose ad hoc decisions erode people's confidence in the language.

Even the name of the subject taught in schools has been changed from Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia and now back to Bahasa Melayu again! The politicians wanted every Malaysian to adopt BM as his own language - hence the name of Bahasa Malaysia as with Bahasa Indonesia.

Some pseudo-politicians have now had it changed to Bahasa Melayu. Although some Malay linguists argue that Bahasa Melayu is the right linguistic term, they forget that it does not augur well for a concept of satu bahasa, satu bangsa dan satu negara (one language, one nationality and one nation).

As one who loves the Malay language, I am indeed concerned with many such commissions and omissions that are weakening the image of the national language. Malay linguists seem to be helpless on these matters.

There is a feeling that some of these changes are being effected out of spite to eradicate the influence of a past leader. If true, I am appalled at the level of wisdom of our politicians as they do not seem to have the capacity to act as true statesmen when making decisions affecting all citizens.

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