Preserve Sabah ethnic languages – Masidi

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Masidi (fourth left) launching the book at Hyatt Regency Kinabalu yesterday.

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun has called for urgent action to address the fast disappearance of Sabah’s ethnic languages.

He expressed concern that the mother tongue of the native ethnics such as the Begahak of Lahad Datu and Tobilung of Kampung Mengaris in Kudat may be lost forever if no concerted effort is taken to revive or at least document them.

“I hope there would be a synergy of collaboration between the various agencies like Sabah Cultural Board, Cultural and National Arts Department Sabah, Sabah Museum Department, Sabah Archive Department and cultural associations in the State,” he said.

He said this when officiating at the launch of a book on traditional customs of ethnic communities in Sabah, published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), at Hyatt Regency Kinabalu here, yesterday.

Masidi opined a smart partnership between various parties would have a much more effective impact in preserving Sabah’s cultural heritage, which include the rare languages and dialect of its different ethnics and sub-ethnics.

He also called on DBP as the authority entrusted in preserving and enriching the local and national languages to take the lead, particularly in researching and documenting ethnic languages and their cultural significance to the local communities.

He stressed that the State Government would always support efforts made by any agencies or institutions towards preserving the mother tongue and culture of the ethnic communities in the State.

He also called on local authors of all genres in Sabah to make it their mission to produce literature materials that could put local languages of Sabah on the regional or even international arena.

He said local writers with intimate knowledge of the local languages and culture have a unique advantage and could play a vital role to assist in racial integration efforts, for a more holistic national development.

He noted there were many talented writers in Sabah and expressed confidence that any of them could follow the success of SEA Write Award recipient, the late Datuk Haji Ismail.