PBDS Baru man claims S’wakians disagree Malay language become key condition for citizenship
KUCHING: A Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak ( PBDS) Baru man believes that Sarawakians would not agree to a suggestion by an academician from Peninsular Malaysia who proposed the requirement for Malaysian children to learn the Malay language before being given blue identity cards.
PBDS Baru supreme council member Bobby William said what Universiti Utara Malaysia ( UUM) professor Datuk Zainal Kling suggested was a ‘ breach to the essence of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Federal Constitution’.
“The majority of Sarawakians today are those born post- Malaysia Day; born before Aug 31, 1957 (for Peninsular Malaysia) and Sept 16, 1963 (for Sabah and Sarawak) were considered British subjects.
“The people of Sarawak would disagree with what Prof Zainal has suggested. A socalled nationalist like him is a shame to the legal fraternity,” Bobby told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said a child would be given the Malaysian citizenship if either parent – or both – was a citizen or had permanent resident ( PR) status.
“This has been the way over the past 53 years,” said Bobby.
Zainal – a professor at UUM’s college of law, government and international studies – had pointed out recently that language used to be a requirement for citizenship, but the Parliament removed this when then- Gerakan co-founder Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon said Malaysians had already learned Bahasa Melayu – the official national language – well in Chinese and Indian vernacular schools as well as national schools.
“If the third requirement ( language) is not fulfilled, don’t give them ( children) the blue identity cards – give them the red Mykad for permanent residents,” Zainal suggested in a national Malay daily recently.