“Of course, we agree with the use of English as the international trade language, but there is an attitude that I feel has gone too far in some places like government offices and even more so in private universities as well as other sectors,” he said when officiating a national language and reading carnival here today.

Anwar said there seemed to have been a “deviation” from the constitutional commitment to uphold Malay as the national language.

Article 152 of the Federal Constitution states that Malay is the national language.

The position of Malay is also specified in the National Language Act 1967.

Anwar instructed government agencies to return correspondence written in any language other than Malay.

“I want to remind local companies and universities so that the directive is clear: anyone who writes in a language other than the national language will have their letter returned.”

He said he was not belittling other languages, but his emphasis on the usage of Malay served as a call to strengthen the national language as part of nation-building.

He also called for higher education institutions and schools to promote the use of Malay.