Question: In what year did the government take the step of defining the literature of different languages
About the article "Malaysia", section "Fine arts".

Candidate passages:
The strong oral tradition that has existed since before the arrival of writing to what is now Malaysia continues today.
These early works were heavily influenced by Indian epics.
Oral literature such as folktales flourished even after printed works appeared.
The Arabic Jawi script arrived with the coming of Islam to the peninsula in the late 15th century.
At this point, stories which previously had given lessons in Hinduism and Buddhism were taken to have more universal meanings, with their main story lines remaining intact.
Each of the Malay Sultanates created their own literary tradition influenced by preexisting oral stories and by the stories that came with Islam.
The arrival of the printing press in Malaysia was key in allowing literature to be accessed by more than those rich enough to afford handwritten manuscripts.
There was a division between the royal Malays, who knew English, and the lower classes, who only read Malay.
In the early years of the 20th century, literature began to change to reflect the changing norms of Malaysians.
In 1971 the government took the step of defining the literature of different languages.
Literature written in Malay was called "The National Literature of Malaysia"; literature in other bumiputra languages was called "regional literature"; literature in other languages was called "sectional literature".
Malay poetry is highly developed, and uses many forms.
A "Hikayat" is a traditional narrative, and stories written in that fashion are named using Hikayat followed by the name(s) of the protagonist(s).
The "pantun" is a form of poetry used in many aspects of Malay culture.
The "Syair" is another form of narrative, once very popular.
The Hikayat form remains popular, and the pantun has spread from Malay to other languages.
Until the 19th century, literature produced in Malaysia focused mainly on tales of royalty, as it was produced just for royalty.
It was after this point that it expanded to other areas.
The race riots of 1969 strongly influenced literature; the improvements of the economy in the 1980s brought about social changes and new forms of literature.
The first Malay literature was in Arabic script.
The earliest known Malay writing is on the Terengganu Inscription Stone, made in 1303.
One of the more famous Malay works is the "Sulalatus al-Salatin", also known as the "Sejarah Melayu" (meaning "The Malay Annals").
It was originally recorded in the 15th century, although it has since been edited; the known version is from the 16th century.
The "Hikaya Rajit Pasai", written in the 15th century, is another significant literary work.
The "Hikayat Hang Tuah", or story of Hang Tuah, tells the story of Hang Tuah and his devotion to his Sultan.
This is the most famous Hikayat; it drew from the "Sejarah Melayu".
Both have been nominated as world heritage items under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 'Memory of the World' programme.
Folktales such as the "Hikayat Sang Kancil", about a clever mouse deer, are popular, as are adventures such as "Ramayana", adapted from Indian epics.
Munshi Abdullah (Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir), who lived from 1797–1854, is regarded as the father of Malay literature.
"Hikayat Abdullah", his autobiography, is about everyday life at the time when British influence was spreading.
Female Malay writers began becoming popular in the 1950s.
Different ethnic and linguistic groups have produced works in their own languages.
Chinese and Indian literature became common as the numbers of speakers increased in Malaysia, and locally produced works based in languages from those areas began to be produced in the 19th century.
Beginning in the 1950s, Chinese literature expanded; homemade literature in Indian languages has failed to emerge.
English has become a common literary language. 
Western literature refers to the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, including the ones belonging to the Indo-European language family as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque, Hungarian, and so forth.
Western literature is considered one of the defining elements of Western civilization.
The best of Western literature is considered to be the Western Canon.
The list of works in the Western Canon varies according to the critic's opinions on Western culture and the relative importance of its defining characteristics.
Western literature includes literature in many languages: American literature Australian literature Brazilian literature British literature Canadian literature Catalan literature Czech literature Danish literature Dutch literature English literature German literature Greek literature - (Ancient Greek literature) Hungarian literature French literature Irish literature Italian literature Latin literature Norwegian literature Polish literature Portuguese literature Russian literature Serbian literature Spanish literature Ukrainian literature Welsh literature  
There are several approaches to defining tensors.
Although seemingly different, the approaches just describe the same geometric concept using different languages and at different levels of abstraction. 
Traditional Malaysian art was mainly centred around the areas of carving, weaving, and silversmithing.
Traditional art ranges from handwoven baskets from rural areas to the silverwork of the Malay courts.
Common artworks included ornamental kris, beetle nut sets, and woven batik and songket fabrics.
Indigenous East Malaysians are known for their wooden masks.
Each ethnic group have distinct performing arts, with little overlap between them.
However, Malay art does show some North Indian influence due to the historical influence of India.
Traditional Malay music and performing arts appear to have originated in the Kelantan-Pattani region with influences from India, China, Thailand and Indonesia.
The music is based around percussion instruments, the most important of which is the gendang (drum).
There are at least 14 types of traditional drums.
Drums and other traditional percussion instruments and are often made from natural materials.
Music is traditionally used for storytelling, celebrating life-cycle events, and occasions such as a harvest.
It was once used as a form of long-distance communication.
In East Malaysia, gong-based musical ensembles such as agung and kulintang are commonly used in ceremonies such as funerals and weddings.
These ensembles are also common in neighbouring regions such as in Mindanao in the Philippines, Kalimantan in Indonesia, and Brunei.
Malaysia has a strong oral tradition that has existed since before the arrival of writing, and continues today.
Each of the Malay Sultanates created their own literary tradition, influenced by pre-existing oral stories and by the stories that came with Islam.
The first Malay literature was in the Arabic script.
The earliest known Malay writing is on the Terengganu stone, made in 1303.
Chinese and Indian literature became common as the numbers of speakers increased in Malaysia, and locally produced works based in languages from those areas began to be produced in the 19th century.
English has also become a common literary language.
In 1971, the government took the step of defining the literature of different languages.
Literature written in Malay was called "the national literature of Malaysia", literature in other "bumiputera" languages was called "regional literature", while literature in other languages was called "sectional literature".
Malay poetry is highly developed, and uses many forms.
The "Hikayat" form is popular, and the "pantun" has spread from Malay to other languages.
Slavic literature refers to the literature in any of the Slavic languages: Belarusian literature Bosnian literature Bulgarian literature Croatian literature Czech literature Kashubian literature Macedonian literature Polish literature Russian literature Serbian literature Slovak literature Slovene literature Ukrainian literature