Malaysia To Levy Fines For Poor Speech

Malaysia is going to great lenghts to ensure its citizens use the national language properly and will levy fines on those found incorrectly using the national language.

Culture and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim said fines of up to 1,000 ringgit ($271) can be imposed on anyone found using a wrong or mutated form of Malay.

He said the move was to ensure "the national language was not sidelined in any way".

Most Malaysians speak Malay. English is widely spoken but a mutated form, known as "Manglish" � a mishmash of English, Malay and other local dialects is commonly used in the Southeast Asian nation.

"It has to be admitted that a mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and English sometimes cannot be helped, but we hope these measures can arrest the decline", Yatim said.

Malaysian officials also plan to set up a specialized division to weed out offenders who mix Malay with English.

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