Anwar, who is opposition leader and PKR president, said Malaysians must be committed to the national language but should not be subject to political rhetoric.

The focus should be on enhancing the quality and level of proficiency in Malay as a language of knowledge, he said. This meant that the great works in economics, literature, science and technology, among others, should be translated.

“But this should not be at the expense of the other languages,” he told reporters after the launching of a book, 65 Years of Independence, by national literary laureate A Samad Said.

Anwar said English was still a very important international language, but so was Chinese, Tamil, Arabic and French among others.

He was rueful about reports on his comments on language, which would be treated like a zero-sum game. “If I say Bahasa Malaysia it is taken to mean I don’t like English, if I support English, it means I don’t like Bahasa.”

It was time to resolve this issue, he said. “We are committed to the national language, committed to languages that are important and critical to enhance the quality of life and economy of the country.”