DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang has asked for English to be used in one parliamentary sitting every week to promote the mastery and to counter the hangover of the language being anti-national or un-Malaysian.

Lauded Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's call for Malaysians to master English to ensure success in a globalised world, he said that "the call has been made for the past five years but without dramatic effect, as evident from the growing army of unemployed and unemployable graduates.

"Illiteracy in English is a major cause for the situation," the Ipoh Timur MP said.

The prime minister made the call to master English during a pre-Budget 2005 consultation in Putrajaya yesterday.

He pointed out that competency and proficiency in English was vital to promote good ideas.

Lim said "what is needed is a quantum leap in the campaign... which must involve overcoming the hangover attitude that knowing and speaking the English language was somehow being anti-national and anti-Malaysian."

For starters, he said, parliamentary debates should be allowed to be conducted in English.

"Until the mid-seventies, our Parliament used English and Bahasa Malaysia for debates.

"When Bahasa Malaysia became the compulsory language for parliamentary debate, MPs were allowed to use English for terms and extracts after permission of the Speaker," he said.

Lim said Parliament should prescribe one day a week where MPs could use English for debate "as of right".

"This will give a powerful demonstration effect and send a clear and unequivocal message to all Malaysians on the seriousness and importance of the campaign."

He proposed the same be done in all state legislative assemblies.

"In this respect, the government should be level-headed, rational and not go overboard in the campaign to promote the mastery of the English language among Malaysians."

No negotiated tender

Meanwhile, DAP national vice-chairperson, Dr Tan Seng Giaw, in responding to the newly-established task force to facilitate greater involvement of the private sector and to reduce government expenditure, said he hoped that the government was serious about it.

"We expect Abdullah to adopt internationally accepted standard for open tender. He should avoid paying lip service and should not allow hanky-panky within the government, what is often called negotiated tender," he said in a statement today.

Tan, who Kepong MP, said in order to cultivate a culture of high performance and profitability, the government must show by example such as appointing chief executive officers of government-linked companies based only on merits.

"Such appointments should not be based on party politics and racial background. Globalisation does not allow for ridiculous appointments of CEOs," he pointed out.