Sabah must also insist on English

Yong (left) said even Indonesia is catching up with the Philippines and Brunei which have been using English non-stop for more than 100 years and Johari (right) said the State’s right to use English was protected under article 161 (3) of the Federal Constitution.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should emulate Sarawak on insisting that English Language be accorded equal prominence as Bahasa Malaysia as well as adopt the use of English as one of the two official languages in Sabah.

"This is because the use of English in Sabah and Sarawak had always been accorded official status ever since the formation of Malaysia under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63)," said Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.

"This approval to re-adopt English as one of the two official languages to be used in Sabah should be among the demands on MA63 that Sabah is pursuing with the Federal Government," he said.

He said, as a current reference, the use of English in the Courts in Sarawak and Sabah have remained official, although this may not be the case in Peninsula where the preference was to use Bahasa Malaysia in the Courts.

"In the context of the 21st century globalised era, English has become the international lingua franca of the world. "In international trade and banking, in aviation and maritime industries, in internet and legal documentation, English is now the language to use.

"To have English as one of our official languages will make Sabah more competitive in Malaysia as well as internationally," said the former Cheif Minister, in a statement.

Yong said even Indonesia is catching up with the Philippines and Brunei, which have been using English non-stop for more than 100 years.

"In the past, Indonesia had been using mainly Bahasa Indonesia and Dutch in their official correspondences. But now English is becoming more common.

"Similarly, former Portuguese colony East Timur (Timor Leste) is shifting away from Portugese to English," he said.

He said it is only a matter of time in this century that the English Language became a global language and not merely a language of England.

"I urged the Sabah Government to urgently approve the use of English language as one of our Sabah official languages and to get the federal government to concur with Sabah's stand in the use of English language," said Yong, who is also a Nominated Assemblyman.

Sabah and Sarawak had been gaven a month to come up with a list of "unresolved demands" as per the MA63 to the Federal Government for consideration by the new Pakatan Harapan led Unity Government of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Sarawak has said it would be going ahead with emphasising on English use, and some quarters there even proposed that English should be the medium of instruction as it once used to be.

Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg included the right to use English as among the conditions of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) agreeing to support the Unity Goverment.

The original agreement only included article 152 of the Federal Constitution for the use of BM as the country's official language.

However, Abang Johari said he "put a stop" to this and amended the agreement to include Article 161 of the federal Constitution which allows Sarawak to use both BM and English as it's official language.

"That is the usage of BM as the official language I amended it. I said not only article 152, but you must also include Article 161 that allows Sarawak the right to use both BM and English as it's official language.

"It is  important to protect Sarawak's rights, no matter where a Sarawakian is, they are protected by the state government," He added.

He also assured civil servants in Sarawak that they can use English without fear of being penalised, in response to Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Zuki Ali who in June called on their Public Services Department to consider punitive measures to enforce Bahasa use in the civil service.

"As long as I am your 'master' you can use English," the Premier said, adding that English was important for quiring new technology and knowledge in the digital era and for global communication.

He said Sarawak aimed to produce citizen who were equally good in English and Bahasa Malaysia. "Like it or not, you must have English in order to understand what is going on in the world," he said, adding that the State's right to use English was protected under article 161 (3) of the Federal Constitution.

 

Source: Daily Express