It's Bahasa Malaysia, not Bahasa Melayu

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has changed the way it refers to its national language in a bid to promote unity in the multiracial country, the deputy prime minister said Monday.
The national language will be referred to as Bahasa Malaysia, the Malaysian language, instead of Bahasa Melayu, the Malay language.
"We do not want this to become a huge polemic. Our decision is to ensure that the national language belongs to everyone," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters.
The decision to call it the Malaysian language comes amid rising tensions among minority groups who feel their rights have been undermined.
Malays make up 60 per cent of the population of about 27 million, compared to 26 per cent ethnic Chinese and eight per cent ethnic Indians.
"What is important is that we know the national language is the Malay language but we wanted the national language to belong to all Malaysians regardless of race or ethnicity," Najib said.
This will enhance "unity, usage, integration and togetherness," he said.
The Star newspaper on Monday quoted Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin as saying all ministries, public universities and the media have been directed to use the term "Bahasa Malaysia."
Zainuddin said the term "Bahasa Malaysia" was introduced to develop a Malaysian identity after the country achieved independence in 1957.
Former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim changed the term in 1986 to "Bahasa Melayu" when he was education minister.
"Now, we feel we should go back to the original term," Zainuddin said in The Star.
The change would also remove a psychological barrier for both Malays and non-Malays, he added.
"The Malays, for example, must not see Bahasa Malaysia as a language used (solely) for themselves. Similarly, non-Malays would also not see the language as a Malay language but a language that belongs to them," Zainuddin was quoted as saying.

tunku : i guess the government intention is good here, so please stop all type of polemics.The government really hopes that all malaysian UNITES under one language. Just look like indonesia, i am surprised that the chinese there speak indonesian language among themselves(at home).
on the separate issue, anwar again during his time in government did some stupid changes, one of them is bahasa baku. then he changed bahasa malaysia to bahasa melayu, and today he's singing different tune.