Malay language can be exported through speech competition, says Rosmah – Bernama

The Prime Minister's Cup Malay Language International Speech Competition (PABM) can help export and expand the language, said the Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor (pic).

She said PABM could also be a potent vehicle to strengthen the Malay Language in the international arena.

Speaking at a ceremony for PABM participants 2014 here today, Rosmah said five years after it started, participation in the competition had expanded from 23 countries in 2007 to 75 this year.

She said the cooperation between the Education Ministry with various institutes of higher learning to set up academic chairs in selected international universities for Malay studies was also a good example in the effort to internationalise the Malay language.

The ceremony was attended by about 80 participants from 75 countries including Russia, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Gambia, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, China, Australia, South Korea, and the United States.

The competition begins tomorrow and will end on April 25 at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Meanwhile, participants of the competition said the Malay language was a beautiful and unique language to learn.

South Korean participant Kim Woo Jung said learning the language enabled her to know more about the culture and people in this country.

Kim, 23, who began studying the Malay Language almost three years ago, was also attracted to how the people in this country who were of different mother tongues united with one language, Malay.

"The language also has its own uniqueness with various words, sentences and dialects," she said.

German participant, Meriam Kerrer, 26, said the Malay language had beautiful poems and proverbs, and it was easy to learn. – Bernama, April 21, 2014.