Students in Chinese, Tamil schools must master Malay language - PM Najib

The Government is committed in ensuring students from Chinese and Tamil schools are able to master the Malay language as part of strengthening the country's unity.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the matter serves as an important instrument in maintaining unity among the various races living in Malaysia as well as being the identity of our country.

"The new generation, no matter Chinese, Indians, Ulus or Kelabits, speak our national language well.

"This we must strive for, even if a student enters Chinese and Tamil schools, he still has to speak the Malay language well. This is our language, the language of our unity, our identity,” said Najib in his speech, when opening the Cultural Congress 2017 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), here, today.

However, Najib said, this does not mean the government is preventing students from speaking in their mother tongue, in fact they are encouraged to master it without any restrictions.

Therefore, he suggested that the bodies responsible for upholding the Malay language to be given more space to ensure that the Malay language is used as the primary language every day.