Make Indonesian AIPA’s Official Language

Jakarta, Indonesia - House speaker Marzuki Alie wants Indonesian to be the official language of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

Marzuki made the suggestion in a speech delivered to the 32nd AIPA in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday.

“Indonesian is the sixth most widely used language in the world after Mandarin, English, Hindi, Spanish and Arabic. We should consider using Indonesian as AIPA’s official language,” Marzuki said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Indonesia was the largest member of ASEAN and Indonesian, or its close relative, Malay, was spoken in several other ASEAN member nations, including Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and parts of Vietnam and Cambodia.

“It will be easier emotionally for the ASEAN community to speak Indonesian. Many countries, such as Australia, South Africa and Saudi Arabia have also taught Indonesian to their citizens, so it will be natural if I propose that Indonesian be made the official language of ASEAN,” Marzuki said.

AIPA chief Hidayat Nur Wahid said the Indonesian delegation would lobby participants to support the proposal.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com

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