KUCHING: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) celebrates its 70th anniversary on June 22, marking seven decades of service to the Malay language as the national tongue and sole official language of Malaysia.
Originally known as Balai Pustaka, the institution was founded on June 22, 1956 in Johor Bahru as a small department under the Ministry of Education.
Its establishment was driven by a singular purpose — to develop Malay as both a national language and the official language of a country on the eve of independence.
In its earliest days, the organisation began its work at Bukit Timbalan in Johor Bahru.
The turning point came following the third Malay Language and Literature Congress, held across Singapore and Johor Bahru from Sept 16 to 21, 1956.
The government accepted the congress’s proposal to rename Balai Pustaka as Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Alongside this, the institution was elevated in status to a body with its own board of members.
In 1957, DBP relocated to Kuala Lumpur, taking up residence in a former hospital ward at Jalan Young.
The move was designed to align its operations with the formal proclamation of Malay as the national language and sole official language of the newly independent federation.
A landmark moment arrived in 1959 when DBP was elevated to the status of a statutory body through the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Ordinance 1959.
This new standing granted the institution three core autonomous powers: to formulate its own specific policies; to develop programmes for the cultivation of language and literature; and to conduct publishing and book trade activities on a competitive, professional footing.
On Jan 31 1962, DBP moved into its own building on Jalan Lapangan Terbang Lama, now known as Jalan Dewan Bahasa.
The institution expanded eastward in 1977, opening two regional offices in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and in Kuching, Sarawak.
Further branches followed in Penang (1999), Kota Bharu (1999), Johor Bahru (2000), and Kuala Lumpur (2011).
Today, DBP operates from Menara DBP, a modern building completed in 2002 and first constructed in 1997. The former headquarters is now known as Wisma DBP.
