Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - Indonesian education and cultural attaches from the embassies of Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Timor Leste are making steady efforts to establish Bahasa Indonesia as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEANs) lingua franca.

A workshop titled "Development Strategy to Establish Bahasa Indonesia as ASEANs Lingua Franca" is being held at the Indonesian Embassy in Manila on Mar 16-17.

Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Johny Lumintang informed ANTARA, Friday, of the importance of consistent efforts and right strategies to establish Bahasa Indonesia as the lingua franca of the ASEAN Economic Community.

At the start of the workshop, professor of Indonesian language from the Padjajaran University Fatimah Djajasudarma delivered materials on the development of Bahasa Indonesia both as a language and its related government policies.

At the workshop, Fahmy Lukman, the education and cultural attache of the Indonesian embassy in Manila, highlighted the development of Bahasa Indonesia through the approach of language and art.

Meanwhile, education and cultural attaches from the Indonesian embassies in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore elaborated on the development of the language through the Indonesian education and schools abroad.

Ari Purbayanto, the attache of the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur, remarked that the existence of Indonesian schools, which provide facilities and teachers, can serve as learning centers for Bahasa Indonesia in every respective country of accreditation.

The common strategy adopted across Malaysia is also aimed at changing the perception that Bahasa Indonesia is different from the Malaysian Melayu.

The specific strategy is to implement the Bahasa Indonesia teaching process in Indonesian schools abroad and to establish an "Indonesian chair" in some universities and research centers.

"This workshop is expected to produce formulas of politics and Indonesian language development policies regarding the current issues and challenges, as well as the strategy to establish the language as ASEANs lingua franca," Purbayanto added.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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