Prisoners barred from using mother-tongue
(Malaysiakini.com) – Inmates in Seremban Prison are allowed to only converse in Malay or English when making telephone calls to their family members, revealed an ex-prisoner.
The Chinese man, who had served a six-month sentence, had complained to DAP Bukit Kepayang assemblyperson Cha Kee Chin.
The ex-prisoner told a press conference yesterday that wardens would immediately terminate the phone conversation if the inmates conversed in their mother tongue.
When Cha checked with a prison official, the DAP rep was told that the regulation was introduced for security purposes.
The reason given is that there are no wardens who understood other languages and the calls have to be monitored.
However, Cha was not convinced.
