KUALA LUMPUR: An activist has called on NGOs to use Malay instead of English when communicating with the public, saying unless the national language is utilised, civil society would not be able to effect change.
Hishamuddin Rais said Malay is widely used compared to English, especially in the rural areas.
“Until and unless we communicate in Malay, we will fail to change anything,” he said after the launch of a book titled “Unity Government Confronting and Managing Inconvenient Truths” here today.
Present were author AB Sulaiman, former Sungai Benut MP Tawfik Ismail, and academic Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi.
Hishamuddin said there was nothing racial about his push for Malay to be used, and that it was merely a strategic move.
He also said he had been advising NGOs to adopt such a strategy.
“The ‘mak cik’ and ‘pak cik’ in the villages won’t care about what you have to say if they don’t know what you are saying,” he added.