Johor Sultan slams city councillor over official letter in English and Chinese (updated)
Tuesday, 25 Sep 20184:17 PM MYT
by nelson benjamin
JOHOR BARU: Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar (pic) slammed an Iskandar Puteri city (MBIP) councillor for an official letter in English and Chinese earlier today (Sept 25).
"All official letters involving the state government or local councils that use the official letter head must be written Bahasa Malaysia.
"If the councillor does not know how to do his or her job, just resign. This is my warning … do not make this mistake again.
"We have never written any official letters in two languages," His Majesty said in a statement via the Royal Press Office (RPO) at Istana Pasir Pelangi, Johor Bahru, on Tuesday (Sept 25).
Sultan Ibrahim was responding to the letter, which had sparked negative responses from people online, because it was written in English and Chinese.
It was learnt that in the letter, the MBIP councillor had called on local residents to attend a dialogue session on a plan to demolish a road block.
However, Perling assemblyman Cheo Yee How clarified that the letter that went viral was just an attachment.
"The official invitation letter was written in Bahasa Malaysia, while the one in English and Mandarin was just the attachment to the official invite.
"I hope that this explanation clears the air and helps the palace understand that we are just doing our job to best communicate with the society," he said.
Tan Hong Pin, the Johor state exco for Local Government, Science and Technology also explained that three languages were used in the letter, with the official letter written in Malay.
He supported the position of Bahasa Melayu as the national language.
After discussions with the councillor, Tan said, "I found that he had no intention of challenging the position of the national language.”
“The purpose of such an arrangement was to inform possible non-fluent Malay speakers to participate in the Road Restructuring Discussion between Jalan Jaya Mas ½ and Jalan Silat Print 2 in Skudai,” Tan said in a statement on Tuesday night (Sept 25).
He said there were irresponsible people who were trying to create an issue by withholding certain information from the general public, such as by just circulating the Chinese and English attachment of the letter.
“This irresponsible act must be stopped immediately so that racial harmony can be maintained in Johor,” said Tan.
Former Umno Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin and Iskandar Puteri PAS Youth had also slammed the Iskandar Puteri city council for the English and Chinese letter.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/09/25/johor-sultan-scolds-city-councillor-for-letter-in-english-and-chinese/#cGJzqpJgdIwXxYq1.99
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