PETALING JAYA: A foreign visitor’s experience in Malaysia will be enhanced if the country’s signage is in other languages as well, says Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
Responding to criticism of him after his remarks to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) over signs in Chinese, Tiong said he “never asked for all signboards” to be in that language.
“Rather, I urged DBKL to tell the business owners (with signboards in Chinese) nicely instead of asking them to take those down.
“What’s wrong with having multiple languages on the signs? If everything is in Bahasa Malaysia, tourists might be hesitant to enter (an establishment),” he said during a closed-door event at his ministry yesterday.
Tiong said having multiple languages will attract more tourists and contribute to the economy.
Recently, he spoke up about DBKL’s enforcement against Chinese-language signboards, saying it could tarnish Malaysia’s image as a diverse and multicultural nation.
He said the controversial move has caused dissatisfaction and created a negative perception among some international tourists.Last month, DBKL issued a 14-day notice to five premises to take down their signboards for not featuring the national language.In a Facebook post, DBKL said the signboards had breached the Small Signboards (FT) 1982 Bylaws for sidelining Bahasa Malaysia. It also posted examples of signboards featuring Bahasa Malaysia.In the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said such a statement from Tiong was incorrect and embarrassing.
Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Akmal Saleh said other countries also use their native languages on signs rather than foreign ones.
PAS’ Federal Territories commissioner Azhar Yahya said Tiong’s statement undermined the position of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language as stipulated in the Federal Constitution.
