PENANG, 3 July 2013 - Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International Affairs), Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal, called for more academics to produce books and writings in Bahasa Melayu (BM).

“Although currently writing in English is more popular in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL), it is a challenge to write in our mother tongue to uphold our national language,” said Shukri.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Bengkel Penulisan Buku, organised by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), attended by approximately 20 lecturers from the School of Management (SoM) and the Graduate School of Business (GSB) here today.

According to DBP Senior Editor and facilitator of this workshop, Rokiah Nordin, cooperation between IHL and DBP are expected to serve as stepping stones for lecturers to write which otherwise DBP will lack of publishing materials.

“I am proud that DBP has published 15 medical books in Bahasa Melayu produced by lecturers from the USM School of Medical Sciences. This has helped produce literature in the general category and they can be read by readers of all ages and backgrounds," Rokiah remarked about the books that were launched last year.

Workshops such as this help to enlighten participants on the skills and criteria for good writing and the approaches used DBP to promote publishable works in the Malay language.

Among those who participated in the workshop was SoM lecturer Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ishak Ismail, who is also an expert consultant in the DBP book publication committee. - Text: Rafizah Nor Md Zain/Photo: Mohd Fairus Md Isa/Translation: Yong Check Yoon