As the legitimate leader of the Malaysian government, the prime minister has the privilege to propose ideas to be adopted by ASEAN, but he should ensure beforehand that the mood among other ASEAN leaders would be positive toward his initiatives. Practically, PM Ismail wanted ASEAN to use the Malaysian language as its official language. He did not realize the far-reaching impacts of his idea if it was eventually approved.

It is possible that the Malaysian leader wanted to leave a quick legacy for his nation because he is not so sure about his future. In the past four years, Malaysia has seen three different prime ministers; Mahathir Mohamad from 2018 to 2020, Muhyiddin Yassin from 2020 to 2021 and Ismail from August last year until now.

"There is no reason why we cannot make the Malay language one of the official languages of ASEAN. We will coordinate this matter and I will discuss it with the leaders of ASEAN countries that do use the language so that they agree to make it the second language of ASEAN,” the prime minister said on March 23, as quoted by The Star.

Ismail oversimplified the ASEAN language matter. This is just not just about numbers and mathematics.

Diplomacy-wise, first and foremost Malaysia needs to raise the idea at the senior official level, and then move up to the ministerial level. The Malaysian government should deploy persuasive arguments that it is in ASEAN's best interests to adopt Malay in its official meetings and documents.

In a joint press conference after their meeting at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on April 1, PM Ismail claimed that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo fully backed his proposal. Jokowi, who stood next to Ismail, just smiled at his guest. In Javanese custom, a smile could mean Jokowi was just letting his guest talk as he wished, but did not necessarily agree with him. The fact is, Jokowi did not respond to the idea during the press meeting.

The President did not want to humiliate his guest in public, especially because that day the two governments signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the protection of Indonesian migrants who work in Malaysia. Millions of them, many undocumented, have worked without any legal protection from abusive companies and employers. Most of them are unskilled workers who could not find a job at home and dared to take the risk for Malaysian ringgits that they could send home.

In response to the Malay language issue, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the prime minister’s idea should be discussed further with other ASEAN members. But Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim was blunter in rejecting Malaysia’s idea.

“With all the advantages of the Indonesian language, in terms of history and linguistics, and how it has been internationally recognized, I believe that it is more fitting for the Indonesian language to be at the forefront [of options] as a medium of communication for official ASEAN meetings," he was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.

This is not the first time a Malaysian leader has floated a sensational proposal, but to no avail.

In announcing Jokowi's support for his proposal, PM Ismail repeated the mistake of Mahathir in 1993 when he claimed his idea about the East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC) had received full backing from then-president Soeharto. The Indonesian president could not agree with the idea because it would kill the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Indonesia hosted the APEC summit in November 1994.

Mahathir often tried to stand tall among other ASEAN leaders but was never able to take over Soeharto’s leadership. In Indonesia Mahathir has the nickname “little Sukarno”, referring to Indonesia’s first president.

From what he has said in public, it seems that PM Ismail aims to promote the Malay language. Although the Indonesian language originates from the Malay that was commonly spoken in Sumatra, especially Riau, Indonesian has been deeply influenced by local languages, in particular Javanese. Malay that is spoken in Brunei and Singapore, and in some areas in Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines is not identical. It often happens that Indonesians and Malaysians do not understand each other when they converse using their respective languages.  

Within ASEAN, Indonesian is the most spoken language, simply because Indonesia is the most populous country in the region. But unlike Malaysia, Indonesia has never proposed the language as the second official medium of conversation.

Article 34 of the ASEAN Charter stipulates English as the working language of the regional grouping. It means the charter should be revised if PM Ismail’s dream came true.

We should also remember that the Malay-rooted language is spoken in predominantly Muslim nations like Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. It could spark unnecessary suspicion from predominantly Buddhist nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, or from the predominantly Catholic Philippines. Is it an attempt to promote ethnic and religious supremacy?

"We do not need to feel ashamed or awkward to use Malay at the international level because this effort to uphold the Malay language is also in line with one of the priority areas of the Malaysian Foreign Policy Framework which was launched by the government on Dec. 7, 2021.

"This effort will be continued in any international meetings and conferences, whether bilateral or multilateral, within or outside the country as appropriate," PM Ismail said.

The prime minister has the right to promote Malaysia’s national heritage, but he needs better preparation before offering it to the public and, more importantly, to other ASEAN leaders. Otherwise, he will face public humiliation, if not denunciation.

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The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.