IT PAYS to be bilingual, trilingual or better still multi-lingual as foreign language competency is often equated as a passport to conquer the world.
In a mix of irony and praiseworthiness, glad tidings now await Malaysian civil servants who are bilingual or multilingual as the Government has agreed to raise the monthly allowances of those who picked up a foreign language on the go while serving abroad in the course of their duty.
The monthly allowances of those with intermediate certificates will increase from RM150 to RM200 per month, Public Service Department head Mohd Shafiq Abdullah was reported as saying by the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news portal.
A maximum of two foreign languages may be claimed by eligible civil servants such as Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, French, Russian, Spanish – or any other official language of the country where they serve in.
Moreover, the incentive allowance for those with advanced level qualifications will be raised from RM250 to RM300 effective Jan 1, 2023, according to a circular sighted by FMT, which was issued last week.
The special allowances for foreign language skills was first introduced in 2009.
“In line with the expansion of international ties between Malaysia and other countries, the use of foreign languages to communicate is important to help ease diplomatic and trade discussions abroad,” rationalised Shafiq.
“Those who qualify for the allowances are officers serving abroad using foreign languages in the course of their duties and those in Malaysia who are asked to conduct international diplomatic or trade discussions.”
According to Shafiq, those using foreign languages abroad for meetings will be paid on a pro-rated basis for the period they are there.
“Officers who return from serving abroad and who no longer have to use the foreign languages in their work will cease receiving the allowances,” he added.
Interestingly, however, there seems to be some degree of discrimination insofar as English language proficiency is concerned considering that those who possess such proficiency will not be considered for any allowance hike.
One wonder if this is because the Government expects all civil servants to be readily proficient in English given that English has all these while been deemed as Malaysia’s “second language” behind Bahasa Malaysia which is the national language or if there is an ‘ulterior motive’ that only the Government is aware of. – Aug 5, 2022
