Media Statement
By DAP National Publicity Secretary,
Ronnie Liu
in Petaling Jaya
on 26th September 2002
The KLIA authorities should include
Chinese and Tamil languages in the airport signboards
I had today call on the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport (KLIA) authorities to consider including Chinese and Tamil
languages in the airport signboards.
A DAP delegation comprising Raymond
Chong, John Chung, Ong Chee Kheng, Kuan Perk Siong and myself presented a
memorandum to Malaysia Airports (Sepang) Sdn Bhd. Its Marketing and Public
Relations Division Senior Manager, Anis Zuhani Ahmad received the memorandum on
behalf of the management.
She promised to convey our suggestions
to the management as well as the holding company, Malaysia Airports Bhd and come
back to us with a reply in due time.
During the meeting, we also raised the
issue of the Kelantan airport signboards where the Chinese, Siamese and Tamil
words on the signboards were covered with black tape shortly after they were put
up.
We hope that the relevant airport
authorities can look into this incident as well as consider seriously the
proposal to include Chinese and Tamil in the airport signboards.
* Copy of memorandum attached
MEMORANDUM BY THE DEMOCRATIC ACTION
PARTY
TO MALAYSIA AIRPORTS (SEPANG) SDN BHD
We, the Democratic Action Party (DAP),
wish to propose that signboards in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)
include the Chinese and Tamil languages, in addition to the three languages
currently used, namely English, Malay and Japanese.
There is a necessity to include Chinese
in the airport signboards for the convenience of the large number of
Chinese-speaking tourists who visit our country so that they can easily find
their way around the airport.
Although Transport Minister, Datuk Seri
Dr. Ling Liong Sik had previously remarked that there was no need to have
signboards in Chinese, Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, Datuk Abdul Kadir
Sheikh Fadzir had stated that the Government would include the Chinese language
in the signboards if the number of Chinese tourists reaches a million.
However, we feel that there is no need
to wait until the number of Chinese tourists reaches a million, as the present
numbers are in fact already very high.
From the Immigration Department
statistics, tourist arrival from China for 2000 and 2001 amounted to 425,246 and
453,246 respectively whereas tourist arrival from Taiwan amounted to 213,016 and
249,911 respectively. If we add the two Chinese-speaking tourist groups
together, we would have close to three-quarters of a million tourists. And these
figures do not include, for instance, tourists from Hong Kong, who numbered
144,611 in 2001.
Considering the Government’s efforts
to woo more Chinese tourists into the country, having signboards in Chinese will
certainly be a complimentary move as well as a positive and user-friendly step.
Moreover, if the authorities could have signboards in Japanese although the
number of Japanese tourists is less than their Chinese counterparts, there is no
reason why Chinese should not be included in the signboards.
Having signboards in Chinese would also
be considered as a sign of respect for the 6.4 million-strong Malaysian Chinese
community (constituting 26% of the Malaysian population), as many from the
business fraternity frequent the airport for their business trips overseas. In
fact, a number of Chinese associations have also called for signboards in
Chinese in the resolutions passed during their meetings.
We also call for the inclusion of the
Tamil language in the KLIA signboards in recognition of the 1.8 million
Malaysian Indians in the country, the third largest community.
Hence, we urge Malaysia Airports (Sepang)
Sdn Bhd, which is responsible for the management and operation of KLIA and
provision of airport related services, to include both the Chinese and Tamil
languages in the KLIA airport signboards in order to ensure an international
airport that is truly user-friendly as well as to reflect the spirit of
multiracialism and multiculturalism that is a hallmark of Malaysia.
c.c.
1. Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik
2. Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, Datuk Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir