Reintroduction Of Hadiah Bahasa To Honour Outstanding Malay Language Works - DBP

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- The reintroduction of ‘Hadiah Bahasa’ is expected to inspire and attract academics and professionals to continue producing language-related works as reading and reference materials for the public.

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) said the award would also recognise and honour high-quality Malay language works in terms of both language and content, produced by students from primary school to university level.

"It is hoped that the Hadiah Bahasa will empower Malay as a language of knowledge and enhance human capital development in line with one of the pillars of Malaysia MADANI, namely innovation," it said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the revival of Hadiah Bahasa, last held in 1985, through an initiative by Public Bank Berhad to elevate the status of Malay language and promote its use in society.

DBP also expressed its appreciation to the Prime Minister for his commitment to reintroduce the award with the support of the bank.

"As the institution entrusted with upholding the national language and literature, DBP is ready to collaborate on various programmes that contribute to the production of high-quality scholarly works in Malay across multiple disciplines.

"DBP highly welcomes the involvement of the private sector in efforts to establish Malay as a language of knowledge," the statement added.

– BERNAMA