Speaking at the launch of an English language course for the police, Fuzi said Dr Mahathir Mohamad had told him to respond to him in English.

“He told me, ‘You must also respond in English now.’ I think he’s assessing my English too now,” he said.

He said the course on Professional Communication English was a “drastic measure” to improve the standard of English in the police force.

“It’s an open secret that civil servants are not up to the mark when it comes to speaking English. They can’t speak good English,” Fuzi said.

He said officers should use English in their daily meetings, but admitted that it could take time for this to happen.

“We will be left out of the international marketplace if we don’t grasp this language now. Although it is not the official language, it is the most commonly used language in 53 countries and for 400 million people,” he told some 200 police officers today.