About 10 local ethnic groups will gather in Kuala Lumpur this Saturday in conjunction with the 2 nd International Mother Language Day to mark the importance of preserving their respective identity and culture.

Taking on from last year's celebration, the Malaysian Tamil Educational Research and Development Foundation (MTERDF) is organising a similar gathering of the different communities here.

Its pro-tem president M Manogar said the main objective of the celebration was to create awareness among the minority ethnic groups on the importance of preserving mother tongue language.

About 300 people are expected to attend the celebration at the Kalamandabam in Brickfields at 6.30pm.

Each representative from the ethnic groups - Malayalee, Sindhi, Telugu, Malay, Gujerati, and Chinese - will give a brief speech on their aspirations for, and the maintenance of, their respective native languages.

There will also be cultural performances by both adults and schoolchildren.

Representatives from the Punjabi and Orang Asal communities have yet to confirm their attendance.

Encourage understanding

He said Feb 21 was designated for international recognition of the mother tongue language by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) back in 1999.

"Many people are not aware of such a day and its significance in determining the cultural identity and history of a community.

"While we try to promote the use of our native language, we also want to encourage its understanding and acceptance among the different ethnic groups," he said when met in Kuala Lumpur today.

"We would like other ethnic groups to take up the cause and share their experiences for a more meaningful co-existence."

He said the challenges were more acute now than ever, especially in an increasingly borderless world and widening digital divide.

"We believe that almost all languages in the country, save Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin, are now endangered," he added.

Manogar said based on Unesco's definition, a community's language is considered endangered when at least 30 percent of its children no longer learn it.

He said it was up to the government and the respective linguistic and cultural groups to actively promote the learning of mother tongue languages among the people.

Practical measures

The MTERDF also proposed practical measures for schoolteachers, university students and the media to conduct in the course of their work.

"Do pupils know that many children have mother languages different from the (official) language used in the school?" asked Manogar.

He said teachers could introduce reading of poetry, story-telling, singing or talking about themselves in their mother tongue as an exposure for children of other ethnic groups.

"University students could survey the number of mother languages spoken on campus and publish the results on the Internet. They can create films, plays and music to celebrate the different languages.

"The media can produce articles on the local spoken languages in the region and the cultural expressions," he added.

Last weekend, a Chinese education group held a children's workshop in conjunction with the mother tongue language celebration in Kajang.

It was attended by 32 participants aged between nine and 12. Fourteen were from schools in Selangor - Chinese schools (10), Sekolah Agama Rakyat (7) and Tamil schools (7). The rest were from the Orang Asal community in Bidor, Perak.

Chin Wai Hoe, the assistant executive of the Organisation Affairs Department of Dong Zong, said the one-and-a-half day workshop saw the children form their own ideas for the artwork and play.

"We wanted them to see and learn that different languages were not barriers to communicating with others of a different background," he said when contacted.

"In fact, they had come up with interesting ideas when drawing on the T-shirts and when performing the play during the closing ceremony."