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(Daily Express) Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman said the general perception that Bahasa Melayu (BM) is solely for the Malays should be discarded.

He said BM has been developed not to serve the interest of the Malays or to let the non-Malays to be on the losing side but for all Malaysians to widely use the national language proficiently.

"We want all from the non-Malay community to use BM widely in their lives because it is a fact that any language should be mastered not only by the original community that speaks the language but also by other communities.

"The non-Malay Malaysians should be involved in all language activities, including BM, so that the image of the national language could be uplifted and our aspiration to enhance the capability of BM as a language for most communities and as a unity and harmony language can be achieved," he said.

Musa said this when closing the State-level 18th Students' Forum Competition at the SM Tshung Tshin hall here, Thursday. His speech was delivered by the Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun, who is in-charge of education in Sabah.

On human capital development involving teenagers, Musa said the younger generation of youths is still searching for identity, interest, capabilities and potentials.

Hence, he said, the generation needs a medium to channel their energy and attention to activities that could fit their tendencies or interest.

Having the students' forum competition, Musa said, was one way of preventing young people from getting involved in social ill activities as such activity encourages, guides and provides healthy competition to the participants to be competent in using BM proficiently and to be skillful in public speaking.

In this respect, he assured that the State Government would continue to give full support and cooperation to further empower the national language among the Malaysians.

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