National Language Act cannot be enforced in Sarawak, says Baru Bian

ARTICLE 152 FEDERAL CONSTITUTION AND THE RELEVANCE OF THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE POLICY IN SARAWAK

I refer to the proposed audit by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka to assess the usage of Bahasa Malaysia as the official language in government departments, agencies and ministries. This was reported in yesterday’s newspapers.

With regard to the first principle of the audit, i.e the extent of compliance with the National Language policy, I wish to point out that Sarawak is in a special position in that English remains one of the official languages here and that we are not bound to adhere to the National Language Act 1963/1967 which requires that Bahasa Malaysia be used for official purposes.

Our oft-forgotten 18-point agreement with Malaya provides particular protection for the use of the English language for Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak:

a. Malay should be the national language of the Federation;

b. English should continue to be used for a period of 10 years after Malaysia Day; and

c. English should be an official language of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) for all purposes, State or Federal, without limitation of time.

Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, which was commemorated at the 152 Language Day at DPN Sarawak on 15 February 2012, states that Malay language is the national language but everybody is free to learn and use other languages except on official purposes such as any purpose as regards to the government, federal or state and any purpose of a public authority. All court proceedings, parliamentary documents and meetings must be conducted in Malay language.

It may be well and good that the Dewan Bahasa dan Pusaka had decided to single out Art 152 for commemoration but it must be borne in mind that for Sabah and Sarawak, Article 152 cannot be read in isolation from Art 161 in Part XIIA ‘Additional Protection for States of Sabah and Sarawak’.

Article 161 provides that ‘… no act of Parliament terminating or restricting the use of the English language… shall come into operation… until the Act or relevant provision of it has been approved by an enactment of the Legislature of that State.’ This exemption preserves for Sabah and Sarawak the use of English in the Courts, the Legislative Assembly or for other official purposes (including the official purposes of the Federal Government). [ Art 161 (2)(b) & (c)]. 

In Sarawak, the National Language Act 1963/1967 has not been approved by an enactment by the Sarawak State Assembly and hence its provisions do not apply in here. Therefore it is not mandatory that Bahasa Malaysia should be the only language used in our government departments and ministries, even for purposes of the Federal Government.

In fact, Art 161(5) of the Federal Constitution provides that notwithstanding anything in Article 152, in the State of Sabah or Sarawak a native language in current use in the State may be used in native courts or for any code of native law and custom, and in the case of Sarawak, until otherwise provided by enactment of the Legislature, may be used by a member addressing the Legislative Assembly or any committee thereof.

Similarly, Art 26 (8) of the Sarawak Constitution provides that ‘For a period of 10 years and thereafter until the Legislature by law otherwise provides, all proceedings in the Dewan may be in the English language, and subject to the standing orders of the Dewan Undangan Negeri, members may use any native language in addressing the Dewan.

Having set out the Constitutional and legislative provisions regarding the use of English and Bahasa Malaysia in Sarawak, let me state that I am not against the use of Bahasa Malaysia in Sarawak. What concerns me is that Sarawakians must know, understand and appreciate the uniqueness of our State and her people, and the efforts made by our forefathers to protect and safeguard this uniqueness.

We have a particular richness in language and culture from our various ethnic groups, and we must value and maintain this heritage. Our past leaders made special provisions in the 18-point agreement to protect our rights in recognition of the fact that even in our diversity, we had an established sense of identity before joining the Federation of Malaysia.

The safeguards were formulated to enable us to retain this sense of identity and to continue "to ensure that our beloved subjects shall ultimately enjoy their inherent right to control their own lives and destinies" as proclaimed by Sir Charles Vyner Brooke in the first clause of Sarawak's first written constitution in 1941.  

These safeguards include the freedom to conduct our business in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and the native dialects. Sarawakians have always taken pride in our command of the English language, and we must continue to maintain this mastery for the sake of the future generations. The English language is a language which opens up the global world to us.

It is the language of learning, and enables us to take our place in the world scene, whether it be in business, academia, the arts, diplomacy, research, science etc. It would be a great shame and a disservice for us and the future generations of Sarawakians to disown or neglect a language which has served us so well.

We note the Federal Government’s desire to promote the use of Bahasa Malaysia. However, all parties involved must be aware of the constitutional rights and the special position of Sabah and Sarawak.

By defending our rights, I am by no means advocating a regression into the past – I am simply calling for recognition of the uniqueness of our ethnic and religious mix and encouraging the various ethnic groups to embrace their heritage and celebrate their differences.

Once a culture is lost, there is no easy way of regaining it.

Whilst I do not agree with the first principle of the proposed audit, I wholeheartedly support the implementation of the second principle, i.e to improve language quality. In the words of the DG Dr Awang Sariyan, we need to make the effort to improve our language skills particularly to check ‘… whether there are still spelling and grammar mistakes in written documents, or when spoken whether the intonation, pronunciation and choice of words are correct.’

I cannot agree more – whether it is Bahasa Malaysia or English, standards must be maintained. It is regrettable to note that the proficiency of the younger generations in the English language has dropped, and there is a need to arrest and reverse this decline.

I have heard the case of a teacher teaching her students to pronounce ‘cucumber’ as ‘chu-chum-ber’, a boy pronouncing ‘sometimes’ as ‘so-may-tee-mez’ and a bank officer addressing a customer James as ‘Jah-mez’. These may be extreme examples but they are all real incidences.

Let us not promote one particular language to the exclusion of the others. Mastery of multiple languages is the key to education and to progress and development in this increasingly borderless world.

We would be taking a myopic view to restrict the use of other languages in our workplace and in our lives.  Sarawak does not prescribe to one particular language as her official language and we are proud of that fact.

Baru Bian

State Assemblyman

N70 Ba’ Kelalan/

Chairman

PKR Sarawak

BN information chief: The allegations of corruption against Taib have no proofs

BN information bureau chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan –media personnel dialogue at Pullman Hotel on Feb 17, 2012.

Ahmad, in his address, stated the 13^th General Election (GE13) would be held before April 2013. It is a matter of timing. If parliament is not dissolved by April next year, it will automatically be dissolved upon the expiry of the current term.

He said the BN’s preparation is on the 5^th gear. “Once parliament is dissolved, the election machinery will be reactivated. In the meantime, we have to go to the ground as regular as possible,” he said.

Ahmad stated that the current term of parliament will be in its fourth year on March 8, 2012 since after the GE12 and on April 3, 2012,  Datuk Seri Najib will be celebrating his third anniversary as Prime Minister.

“The Prime Minister will consider calling for the general election only if the BN is confident of winning two-thirds majority in parliament. But we have to work hard to achieve that, and with the efforts that we have made, we are confident of winning the GE13,” he said.

Ahmad said based on past experience and history, the next general election would normally be held after four years from the date of the last general election.

“The elections have been held after four years and one month, four years and three months.

“But we hardly ever holding our general election on the fifth year,” he said.

On the issue of NFC Sdn Bhd,  Ahmad admitted that it is a hot issue at the moment.

“Personally, I feel that there is no need for Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to resign as the Minister of Women, Family and Community Development and Umno Wanita chief.

“Datin Seri Dr Azizah Wan Ismail did not resign when her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was jailed before for sodomy.

“But why should Shahrizat resign when her husband has not been brought to court and that investigation into the NFC allegations has not completed yet,” Ahmad said.

He said the views expressed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Nazri Aziz on Shahrizat were their personal views and not that of Umno or the government.

In any case, he said DPM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has already stated that there is no need for her to quit her cabinet post and as Umno Wanita chief.

Ahmad said Shahrizat does not own shares in NFC and she is not involved in its management.

He, however, admitted that it is very difficult for the government and Umno leaders to answer the perceptions and allegations by the Opposition on Shahrizat.

“This is our big challenges facing us now. It is a different matter if the investigation on NFC has been completed and her husband charged and convicted in court,” he said.

On the Chinese voters, Ahmad said the Chinese community has always been supportive of the Barisan, with the exception of the 2008 general election.

“But we are confident that they will support the BN in the coming election.

“The Chinese community should know the benefits of supporting the Barisan because they want stability and peace.

“They know which party can ensure peace and stability in the country,” he said.

Ahmad said he personally feels that the Chinese are a rational community.

“They are basically the business community, hence they want political stability.

“We are sure that the Chinese are rational when it comes to the general election by supporting the Barisan.

“We consider all the communities as the determining factors in the election. The votes from each community are as important, and that no one community can decide the outcome of the election,” he said.

A reporter, with a mainstream paper, took to the mike and asked Ahmad for his comments on a statement by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala that Malaysia could become a bankrupt by 2019 if the government continues to give subsidies and that Jala’s statement seemed to be reinforced with the national debts ballooning to RM450 billion under Najib. The reporter also asked him to comment on claims that the government is not serious about wiping corruption. What see are only small fish, not the sharks, being charged in court.

Ahmad likened  the questions to those which have raised by the Opposition.

He asserted that Jala’s statement was his personal opinion and not that of the federal government.

“Malaysia will not go bankrupt because 90 per cent of the debts are from domestic borrowings. If we borrow heavily  from foreign sources, then we will be in deep trouble.

“Moreover,  the country is only paying 5 to 6 per cent of its gross domestic products (GDP) to service the debts. We can go bankrupt if we have to use 30 to 40 per cent of the GDP to service the debts,” he explained.

He admitted that the government gives out huge amount of subsidies, both direct and indirect. The government gives direct subsidies on sugar and Ron95 petrol and indirect subsidies on education and infrastructures.

“It is not a problem for the government to continue with the subsidies because our incomes have increased. It is a different matter if our incomes have decreased while the total amount of subsidies has increased,” he explained.

Ahmad explained that the officers at the Finance Ministry were doing a good job in preparation the national budgets and financial planning for the country.

“They are hardly being transferred to elsewhere so they have much experience in the finance ministry,” he said.

On corruption, Ahmad denied that only small fish are brought to court.

“We can see that sharks like Ling Liong Sik, Khir Toyo and others, have been charged for alleged corruption,” he said.

An editor with a local newspaper asked Ahmad to comment on the formation of Barisan Nasional Club by five wakil rakyat, who have been sacked from SPDP, last year.

He said its formation must be approved by the BN leadership and that each component party of the Barisan Nasional must reach a consensus.

“If all the parties agree, then there is no problem. The final approval, however, is left to the top BN leadership.

“It is the same with individuals and friendly organisations who want to apply to be direct members.

“There is wisdom there for direct membership from friends of the Barisan,” he said.

A reporter with a mainstream paper stood up and said that the Opposition has have been hurling all kinds of allegations against the chief minister. He asked Ahmad whether the CM is a liability for BN in the urban centres in view of the fact that the BN lost heavily in the urban centres in the April 16,2011 state election?

Ahmad said he is very much aware of the allegations. Whether there are basis for the allegations, there must be proofs of corruption.

“I know the member for Bandar Kuching (Chong Chieng Jen) has been saying the allegations in parliament all this while.

“There must be proofs of corruption in court, otherwise, don’t accuse the chief minister.

“The MACC will not charge anyone in court without proofs. The MACC has not charged him (CM) in court, so there is no proof,” he said.

On whether Umno would come to Sarawak, Ahmad, who is also the Umno information chief, said:”For now, as the prime minister had stated before, Umno will not go to Sarawak.

“But I cannot predict what will happen in future, says 10 or 15 years from now,” he said.

Ends