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Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka should remove the offensive, inappropriate and misleading example cited for the word “kecinaan” in the Kamus Dewan which portrays the DAP in a bad light   Press Conference Statement by John Chung (Kuala Lumpur, Thursday): I had this morning, together with Special Assistant to MP for Bukit Bintang, Kuan Perk Siong and DAP Segambut branch treasurer Daniel Chong, submitted a protest note to the Director General of Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka Datuk A. Aziz Deraman concerning the offensive, inappropriate and misleading example cited for the word “kecinaan” in the Kamus Dewan.  The protest note was accepted by the Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka Corporate Communication Department Head Pn. Rossilawaty Sheriff.   In the protest note, I had called on the Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka to explain the example cited in the Kamus Dewan for the word “kecinaan” which portrays the DAP in a bad light.   In the Kamus Dewan, the meaning of the word “kecinaan” is given as follows:   “yg berkaitan dgn orang atau bangsa Cina, yg mementingkan (memperjuangkan hak dan kepentingan) bangsa Cina sahaja”   The example of usage for the word “kecinaan” is given as follows:   “Dr. Syed Husin Ali memberi alasan wujudnya parti pembangkang (DAP) yang memainkan sentimen kecinaan membuat pengundi Cina tidak memangkah MCA; akhirnya timbullah perasaan kecinaan dan keindiaan.”   The use of such an example in the Kamus Dewan is distasteful and offensive as it portrays the DAP in a bad light and insinuates that the party plays up Chinese sentiments and champions only the rights and interests of the Chinese which is not only mischievous but also dishonest and untruthful as the DAP is in essence a multi-racial party that upholds the rights and interests of all races.   Not only so, such a depiction of the DAP is misleading and would give rise to a negative perception of the party amongst the users of the Kamus Dewan. As a responsible organization, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka should be more professional and refrain from using political examples.   Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka should therefore:   (i)        provide a satisfactory explanation as to why such a distasteful and inappropriate explanation involving the DAP was used; and (ii)       remove the offensive example from the Kamus Dewan.   Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka should also take seriously the complaints by Angkatan Pelopor India Muslim Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan (Apim) and other groups over the use of “keling” and, in particular, phrases containing the word in the Kamus Dewan, which is deemed offensive and derogatory to the Indian community. A satisfactory explanation must be given why “keling” is included but the word “India” is left out in the dictionary.   The argument that the Kamus Dewan cannot list every word should not be used as an excuse not to list important words such as “India”, “iban” and “kadazan”, especially when both the words “Melayu” and “Cina” are listed in the dictionary. Surely the Kamus Dewan can and should also list these words to show that Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka respects the fact that Malaysia is made up of a plurality of ethnic groups.   Hence, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka should take note of the objections raised and take the necessary steps to correct the situation. (14/8/2003) *  John Chung, DAP National Publicity Bureau Assistant Secretary