In an effort to protect the integrity of the country's national language, Malaysia has decided to levy fines on people who mangle Malay on signs and posters, and deploy monitors to ensure that speakers at official functions don't improperly mix Malay with English, news reports said Thursday. The fines which may amount up to 1,000 ringgit ($271) would be imposed after an initial warning.

The move aims to ensure that "the national language was not sidelined in any way," Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim said, according to The Star.

Most Malaysians speak the national language, Malay, also known as Bahasa Malaysia, but English is widely spoken, and that too in a mishmash of both languages - known as "Manglish."

The government wants to root out English words that have been adopted in the national language and replace them with suitable Malay substitutes, the Star quoted Rais as saying.

"It has to be admitted that a mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and English sometimes cannot be helped, but we hope these measures can arrest the decline," Rais said, according to The Star.

He said a national language unit will be set up to try to reduce the English-Malay mix, especially at official functions.

However, critics have said that Malaysia's decision to sideline English in favor of Malay is hurting its global competitiveness, and caused English language standards among students to plunge.