The headquarter of DBP Sarawak Branch in Kuching

Language has existed in ancient times though not in the form or style which we would recognize in this modern era. People then carved and drew pictures or symbols on rocks, tree barks or pottery… all with the purpose of communication or to tell a story. In the period of the cavemen, or cavewomen, the primitive language used was not clearly understood or standardized. But over the centuries, language has evolved to become a systematic display of words and sounds.

Each country and communities within that country have their own distinct language in terms of the written word, speech patterns and style of expression. In a multilingual society, language and language planning play an important role in political and social development of the nation. For Malaysia, the national language chosen as the lingua franca upon gaining independence is Bahasa Malaysia or commonly known as the Malay Language.

The task of developing and expanding the national language of Malaysia became the responsibility of one organization - the Institute of Language and Literature or Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). The institute was established on 22 June 1956 in Johor Bahru, and it was later relocated to Kuala Lumpur in 1957. In 1959, under the Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka Ordinance of the same year, the institute was raised to the status of a statutory body.

With its new status, DBP was given the autonomy to formulate its own specific policies. These policies encompassed organizing programmes for the development and promotion of the Malay language and literature as well as publishing and marketing books competitively in accordance to the principles and practices of the publishing industry and profession.

DBP Sarawak Branch and DBP Sabah Branch were set up twenty years later in 1977 with the headquarters in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu respectively. these DBP Branches are responsible for developing and disseminating Malay language and literature in Sarawak and Sabah.

The vision of DBP is to make Malay as one of the major languages of the world by the year 2020. The institute’s mission is to develop Malay into a language of knowledge in the process of building a nation state. Through its objectives and implementation of planned programmes and activities, DBP is able to establish the identity and substantiate the status of Malay language as a medium of contemplation, communication and to build a modern Malaysian civilization.

Teachers and students on distance learning do their research in the DBP Library

From 1977 until 1999, DBP carried out several restructuring exercises to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its departments and programmes. Today, there are 3 main departments in DBP:
1. Language Department
2. Literary Department and the
3. Publishing Department

The Language Department is entrusted with the task of language development and language dissemination. The language development programme is implemented by 3 Divisions:

1. Language Research

2. Lexicography and

3. Terminology; whilst the language dissemination programme is undertaken by 4 Divisions :
i. Public Sector Language Dissemination
ii. Private Sector Language Dissemination
iii. International Malay Language Dissemination and
iv. Language Publishing

The Literary Department is responsible for the development, socialization and dissemination of literature. The objectives of this department are to establish Malay language literature as the nucleus of national literature, enhance quality of literary works, activate Malay language literature as accepted rendition involving Malaysian multiracial society, and promote national literature to regional and international levels through research and development. This department consists of 7 Divisions:
1. Traditional Literary
2. Modern Literary
3. Literary Theory & Critic
4. Comparative Literary
5. National Literary Development
6. International Literary Development and
7. Literary Publishing

The main function of the Publishing Department is to prepare manuscripts to the final stage. Other responsibilities include organizing activities like conventions, colloquium on publishing, intellectual discourses and Congress on Malay Civilization with the purpose of upholding the sovereignty of the
Malay language through publications.

Besides the departmental programmes and activities, DBP also launched several language awareness campaigns :
i. National Language Week (1960)
ii. National Language Month (1961-1966)
iii. Love Our LanguageCampaign (1987, 1990-1994) and
iv. National Language & Literary Month (1999)

The basic aims of the campaigns are to develop awareness and love for the national language, and establish a national language culture amongst users of the language in Malaysia.

In addition to the campaigns, DBP contributes to the public through its corporate funds and scholarships such as the Dewan’s Literary Fund (Derma Cipta Dewan Fund) and Tun Syed Nasir Ismail Scholarship. The Fund enables creators of artistic works to increase their collection of literary and academic materials. On the other hand, the Scholarship provides opportunity for students who excelled in STPM to advance their studies in the field of Malay language/linguistics or Malay literature/Malay studies up to the Bachelor level in local institute of higher learning.

The efforts to uphold the sovereignty of Malay as the national and official language of Malaysia, and as an international language, continue on in the new millennium. DBP is set to meet future challenges with its 5-year strategic plan (2001-2005) that is in line with the 8 th Malaysia Plan, and ensure that the institute remains the leader in the fields of Malay language, literature and culture.

DBP Client’s Charter

DBP is committed to producing authoritative and quality books and other publications in standard Malay that shall be promoted through competent, prompt and excellent service. This commitment is reflected in the Client's Charter:
 A Malay Language Lexicon and Corpus Database for research and usage.
 Guidelines on spelling, pronunciation and grammar that are up-to-date and a language register that is definitive.
 Dictionaries and encyclopedia that are comprehensive and up-to-date.
 Terminology that is precise, suitable and concordant with the various fields of knowledge.
 Friendly and competent advisory service on the use of language and literary development.
 Literary works of quality.
 Infrastructure and atmosphere that are dynamic and conducive to the production of literary works.
 Quality books and periodicals in the various fields of knowledge.