about 300 million speakers, was also used in Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Timor Leste, [while] efforts to make Bahasa Melayu as the official language of ASEAN required strong support from all Malay-speaking countries. Nadiem Anwar Makarim, the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of Indonesia, remarked that he rejected the suggestion to strengthen Malay language as the ASEAN official language and intermediary language, [and suggested] the aspiration should be reviewed and discussed further at the regional level. Kornelius Purba, the editor of The Jakarta Post, commented that the Malaysian leader wanted to leave a quick legacy, the Minister Nadiem Makarim was blunter in rejecting idea, and could spark unnecessary suspicion from predominantly Buddhist nations such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, or from the predominantly Catholic Philippines. Joanne Lin, a researcher in ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, commented that this idea the will likely be viewed this as another nationalistic endeavour by Kuala Lumpur or even Ismail Sabri himself to score points on the domestic front, but possibly erode efforts to preserve regional stability and order, and might open the way for a proliferation of similar requests to pour through the floodgates. Rohiman Haroon commented that the use of Malay language in archipelago will continue to grow and, whether the Indonesians like it or not, the language is a deeply rooted Bahasa Melayu. The case against the proposal are Malay is not widely spoken as claimed as Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) is the 10th most spoken language in the world, not Bahasa Melayu [which] it could be a case of cultural appropriation, states might interpret the move as a form of political and cultural dominance, Mandarin is more widely spoken and recognised at the global stage, it is a divisive agenda, member states will question why their respective language can not be the second language, and concerns over additional operational cost to be incurred such as for translators and interpreters. On September 28, 1966, Indonesia returned to being a member of the United Nations, which was followed by closer ties between Indonesia and Malaysia. See also Kesatuan Melayu Muda, political movement in Malaya fought for the unification with Indonesia Sang Saka Malaya, the Kesatuan Melayu Muda movement flag in Malaysia Maphilindo, another irredentist concept, including the Philippines References Irredentism Nationalism by country