SARAWAK WANTS TO ESTABLISH IBAN LANGUAGE COURSE AT UNIMAS - DOUGLAS UGGAH
KUCHING, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak government intends to establish an Iban language course at a local university here to facilitate a more in-depth learning experience for local children.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said that to realise this, he will discuss it with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) to get its approval.
"Need to be discussed in detail so that it is established in an orderly and structured manner.
"I learned that the Iban language course is only offered at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), in addition to it being quite difficult to find qualified lecturers as it is quite far,” he said after the launch of the English-Iban dictionary at the Teachers Education Institute (IPG) Batu Lintang Campus here today.
Speaking at the function, Uggah said the publication of the dictionary was the effort of lecturers of the Department of Iban Language Studies, IPG Rajang Campus with Dr Lambat Lindong, the project coordinator.
"In line with Malaysia’s international reputation for harmonious coexistence among diverse races, the Iban community can highlight the uniqueness of their language to the global audience.
"The publication of this dictionary also opens up opportunities for those interested in academic, cultural and religious writing as writers can now select words that best suit their specific writing needs,” he said.
He explained that the 698-page dictionary presents a wide selection of words that can be adapted to the form of writing as well as in everyday speech.
-- BERNAMA
