KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei should jointly publish more books on Malay literature to ensure that the language does not diminish. The Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia Language Council (MABBIM) should also come up with new academic terms.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said it was important to constantly expand the vocabulary of the Malay language.

Creating new academic terms, he said, would allow a wider range of concepts in different fields to be expressed in Malay.

"I also propose that more books be published jointly between MABBIM nations. The Bahasa Melayu/Indonesia publishing industry is far behind compared with the English publishing industry," Muhyiddin said at the launch of the 49th MABBIM conference and language seminar at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) yesterday.

Ongoing efforts to strengthen the language in the country, like publishing Malay academic and reference books on science on technology would continue.

"What is important is to step up joint or exchange projects between Malay-speaking countries in the region so that the books can reach a wider market."

Other than local participants, representatives from Indonesia and Brunei attended the event while a delagation from Singapore came as observers.

Present were DBP director Datuk Termuzi Abdul Aziz and DBP board and Media Prima chairman Datuk Johan Jaaffar.

Later when launching the book Natrah: Cinta, Rusuhan dan Air Mata (Natrah: Love, Riots and Tears) at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia campus at Jalan Semarak, here Muhyiddin said the legal process was not the only solution to resolve conflicts between the religions.

He said discussions, negotiations and dialogues between religious leaders could be used to promote understanding and resolve conflicts involving religions in a harmonious way.