The names Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia have been used interchangeably, but some argue that one of them isn’t right.

KUALA LUMPUR — Reports of Malaysian students with poor English and graduates unable to land jobs due to poor speaking skills in the language are by now familiar.

The Malaysian language is Malay; Malaysians also commonly use English and a number of Chinese and Indian dialects. My thanks to reader Ean Hin Ooi for pointing this out.

"Lest they forget, the Malay language has a long history and was once world renowned as the lingua franca among international traders. We should be proud that there are many words in other languages ...

Malaysiakini today launched a Bahasa Malaysia version of its news portal to become one of the first online media in the country to have a website in two languages.

The Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) politician added that at a time when some ministers and MPs are not able to converse in Malay properly, the language test should be made a priority.

Compared to the 1970s and 1980s, the command of the language by SJKC pupils has improved. In the 70s and 80s, the passing rate for the Malay language subject in SJKC was about 45%.

“Some of these words suggested a link with other Aslian languages spoken far away in other parts of the Malay Peninsula.” About 280 people speak the language, which is called Jedek.

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Dato' Seri Zahrain Mohammad Hashim, the Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia, explained the Malaysian government plan to cooperate with Indonesia in creating a certain standard for ...