Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. 一 CHAN TAK KONG/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob says he hopes that a chair in Malay studies can be established at all universities locally and abroad in a bid to empower the Malay language.
He said this in response to the recent establishment of the chair named in his honour at the Thai Global Business Administration Technological College (TGBC).
Ismail Sabri said the chair was the first at a Thai institute of higher learning, dedicated to the study and research of the Malay civilisation and Malay language.
"This is a move capable of bringing about a huge impact on the effort to uplift the status of the Malay language at Asean and international levels.
"The TGBC and the Rajamangala University Of Technology (RMUTT) will function as the educational hub to expand the network for Malay studies and civilisation in Thailand.
"I hope the establishment of the chair in Thailand will be expanded to other countries in the region, as well as globally, as it is our dream to make the Malay language an international language, at least among Asean states," he said this to reporters after opening the International Malay Language Aspiration Symposium 2023 here on Monday (Sept 25). – Bernama
