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Johor Ruler: All official letters must be in Bahasa

JOHOR BARU: Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar has voiced his annoyance after an official letter by an Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP) member written in Chinese went viral.

His Majesty said any official letter involving the state government or local authorities in Johor must be written in Bahasa Malaysia.

“If the councillor does not know how to do his or her job, just resign. This is my warning … do not make this mistake again.

“All official letters involving the state government or local councils that use the official letterhead must be written in Malay.

“We have never written any official letter in two languages,” the Sultan told the Royal Press Office (RPO) at Istana Pasir Pelangi here.

The Ruler was responding to the letter, which had sparked negative responses from netizens, because it was written in English and Chinese.

In the letter, the MBIP councillor had called on local residents to attend a dialogue session on a plan to demolish a road-block.

Johor Local Government, Science and Technology Committee chairman Tan Hong Pin said he hoped the viral letter would not stir racial disharmony among Johoreans.

He said he was disappointed that former Johor mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Iskandar Puteri PAS Youth spread the letters without giving a full explanation about the situation.

Tan said the letter was part of an attachment to an invitation to the residents of Jalan Jaya Mas and Jalan Silat Cekak to discuss about a road-block at the area.

“The official invitation letter for the discussion was written in Bahasa Malaysia while the letter written in English and Mandarin are just the attachment to the official invite.

“The attachment was written in English and Mandarin as most of the people around Jalan Jaya Mas and Jalan Silat Cekak are more familiar with these languages,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said he supported the use of Bahasa Malaysia as the official language of the country and had no intention to challenge its status.

Perling assemblyman Cheo Yee How clarified that the letter would not have been a problem if the original official letter written in Bahasa Malaysia was also shown along with the attachments.

“If you look closely at the letter spread by Khaled and PAS, you will notice that there is no date on it.

“This indicates that the letters are just attachments and are not an official letter issued by the Iskandar Puteri Municipal Council,” he said.

Source: TheStar