KOTA KINABALU – More Sabah leaders have come forward voicing their reservations towards Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s emphasis on making Malay the exclusive language for official government correspondence.
Sabah Progressive Party president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, State Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe, and state opposition leader Datuk Darell Leiking, have all expressed their reservations on the directive to reject official letters not written in Malay.
Anwar recently issued a directive instructing all government departments to disregard or return, without any action, any letters received that are not in the Malay language.
Yesterday, former Sabah chief minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak, emphasised that both Sabah and Sarawak should have been consulted before such a policy was mandated.
Think of international impact
Yong, also a former Sabah chief minister, expressed his concerns that the Malay-only policy could be detrimental to Malaysia’s economic development.
He pointed out that certain government departments, due to the nature of their work and their responsibility in dealing with foreign entities and businesses, must communicate in English.
This is because the language is the international lingua franca for trade, communication, and diplomacy, he said.
Yong added that the Malay-only policy might convey a negative message to the international community, suggesting that Malaysia may not be open to foreign investment or trade, or that it is not interested in collaborating with other nations.
“Even our law enforcement agencies (police, anti-corruption, and immigration) have to receive and process all sorts of incoming mail and reports in various languages.
“It would be a loss to the country and to the economic progress if such incoming mail to the government is simply ‘returned to sender’, as this practice disconnects and isolates the country from the world,” he said.
Yong noted that the use of the national language is already widely accepted as the medium of communication among Malaysians, and the “Guna Bahasa Kebangsaan” (“Use The National Language”) campaign, launched in the 1980s, had also fulfilled its purpose.
Consult us first
Sabah DAP secretary, Phoong, who is currently in Brunei attending the BIMP-Eaga Trade Convention, suggested that Sabah should have a more flexible approach.
He said Sabah welcomed investors and international companies to communicate in either Malay or English.
“Considering Sabah’s unique historical background and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 as well as IGC report, Sabah should be allowed the flexibility and freedom in this matter.”
Meanwhile, Leiking, who is Warisan deputy president, stressed that directives of this nature should not be imposed arbitrarily on Sabah and Sarawak, which were historically separate regions that have come together to form Malaysia.
He insisted that the Borneo states should have been consulted before implementing such a policy, while citing Sarawak’s clear refusal to comply with the Malay-only directive as one reason for such indifference.
As for Sabah, Leiking mentioned the need for the Sabah chief minister’s stance on this policy.
He emphasised that most of the state’s public documents, dealings and medium used in the judiciary system are in English.
“Sabahans should be driven to learn more languages, not ignore English, if they wish to be competitive in many areas.”
Pushback from Sarawak
Meanwhile, Sarawakians have also stood their ground and shown displeasure on the matter of language usage in officialdom.
The Borneo Post has reported Sarawak state secretary Datuk Amar Mohd Abu Bakar Marzuki as confirming that the Sarawak civil service can use English in official communications.
When contacted, he said Sarawak will “not follow the reminder” made by Anwar.
“That does not apply in Sarawak,” Abu Bakar was quoted as saying.
Chipping in, Sarawak's Deputy Local Government, Public Health and Housing Minister Michael Tiang said that Putrajaya cannot force the Sarawak authorities and Sarawakians in general to only use Malay for official correspondences to government agencies and ministries.
This right of Sarawak on the usage of English is guaranteed under Article 161(3) of the federal constitution, he stressed.
"Therefore, we will continue to communicate with the federal side using English, and Putrajaya must accept," he said yesterday.
Tiang, who is state assemblyman for Pelawan, added that the federal National Language Act 1963 and 1967 on compulsory use of Malay only is not applicable to Sarawak.
He said the assertion by the prime minister for all official government-related letters to be only in Malay does not apply to Sarawak and Sarawakians.
English has always been used prominently in Sarawak.
The late previous chief minister, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, when he was helming the state government then, had once blasted the federal government for insisting on forcing all and sundry to only use Malay for official events and official communications.
Adenan had in his capacity then as chief minister said that he would defy federal directives to abandon English as official language. – The Vibes, October 27, 2023
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