JOHOR BAHRU: The Iskandar Puteri district policemen are attending a four-month English language course to master basic communication skills dealing with foreigners, including tourists, businessmen and students living in Johor Bahru.

The first batch of 30 policemen attended the first English lesson on August 6.

Iskandar Puteri police chief Assistant Commissioner Rahmat Ariffin was present at the first free lesson conducted personally by the president of Johor English Language Teaching Association (Jelta) Vincent D’Silva.

The policemen are to attend a one-and-a-half hour class each week for four months, and will sit for the oral and written tests at the end of the course.

This is the first time the Iskandar Puteri police is conducting English lessons for the policemen.

ACP Rahmat said tourists visiting Johor from Singapore are mostly English-speaking.

He stressed that policemen must master the English language in order to effectively communicate with foreigners.

“At present we are enhancing the English conversational skills of policemen. And we may conduct other language courses in future, including Korean and Japanese.

“More foreigners from various countries are now residing in Johor Bahru under the Malaysia My Second Home Scheme,” he said.