Penang DCM defends multi-lingual signboards

A Pakatan Rakyat leader today slammed Umno for politicising the Penang government’s decision to put up multi-lingual signboards in heritage zones in Georgetown to cater to the needs of foreign tourists.

Indeed, Deputy Chief Minister Mohamad Fairus Khairuddin challenged Umno members to first question their own party leadership for replacing Bahasa Malaysia with English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science in schools a few years back.

He said the change in education policy, initiated during former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure, had belittled Bahasa Malaysia’s status as the country’s official language.

Mohamad Fairus said the decision to revert the teaching of both subjects to English also expressly implied that "Bahasa Malaysia was not in the same class with English".

"Didn’t that tarnish the image of Bahasa Malaysia? Didn’t that insult Bahasa Malaysia’s official status?

"Why didn’t Umno make a similar hue and cry then, even though many others, especially intellectuals and academicians, were against the government’s move?" asked Mohamad Fairus.

The deputy chief minister was speaking to journalists at his office in Komtar, Georgetown, after receiving a petition from the Tanjung Umno division protesting against the state government’s move to put up multi-lingual signboards.

Earlier, the seven-man Umno delegation, led by division deputy chairperson Raja Munir Shah, handed over a similar petition to Penang Island Municipal Council MPPP president Zainal Rahim Seman.

Raja Munir Shah said if the state government was serious in catering to tourist needs, it should look into upgrading existing tourist infrastructure and introducing new tourism products and facilities.

"Many countries are enjoying high tourist arrivals despite the use of signboards in the national language," he said.

'We are not belittling Bahasa Malaysia'

Under the new policy to be executed by MPPP, the state government will add on other relevant languages - English, Tamil, Mandarin and Arab - to existing Bahasa Malaysia signboards, without deleting the official language.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has previously explained that his government was not belittling the official status of Bahasa Malaysia, but was merely adding other languages to cater for the needs of foreign visitors.

"We are not replacing Bahasa Malaysia, like how the Umno government had done," Mohamad Fairus explained today.

"We are merely adding to the value to the existing signboards for a tourism purpose," said Mohamad Fairus, who also accused Umno members of being bankrupt of ideas and picking on petty issues to remain relevant.

Since announcing its multi-lingual signboard policy, the state government has received mostly positive feedback, including from arch rivals, Gerakan and MCA.

However, Umno and other non-government organisations allegedly linked to it have opposed and criticised the DAP-led state government policy as a political move to undermine Bahasa Malaysia.

Last week, an unregistered non-governmental organisation, the Federation of Young Malay Graduates (GGMM), filed a suit at Penang High Court seeking an order to stop the state authorities from putting up the multi-lingual signboards.

Like Raja Munir, GGMM also claimed that the move had violated the official position of Bahasa Malaysia as enshrined under the Federal Constitution.