SINGAPORE - The annual Bulan Bahasa, or Malay Language Month, will run as a series of virtual events and online programmes for a second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Organised by the Malay Language Council to encourage the community to embrace the use the language in their daily lives, the programme will run from Aug 14 to Oct 10, with its official launch to be broadcast on Suria at 8.30pm on Sept 4.

Among some of the activities planned are a contemporary shadow puppetry workshop that will let families create their own shadow puppets and stories to perform.

A series of workshops called Pentas Radio will also offer a behind-the-scenes look at radio plays and give participants a chance to learn how to execute and perform one.

Arts group Perkumpulan Seni Singapura will also organise a dance competition where participants are challenged to bring out the beauty of the Malay language through Malay dance.

In line with Bulan Bahasa's tradition, Malay language teachers awarded the Arif Budaman Malay Language Teacher's Award have compiled six Malay language notebooks.

Containing notes and tips on culture, food and linguistic expressions, the six notebooks will be given to all schools and Bulan Bahasa programme partners.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam, chairman of this year's Bulan Bahasa committee, said: "We recognise that families in Singapore are comfortably bilingual, and the Malay language continues to be actively spoken at home, between generations and among families and friends.

"As a means of communication and a language of kinship, it is a way for us to remain connected to each other and our heritage," added Ms Rahayu, who is also Parliamentary Secretary for Communications and Information and Health.

For more information about Bulan Bahasa and its activities, visit this website.