Patriot association concerned about debate on English as medium of instruction

KUCHING: The Sarawak Patriot Association (SPA) fully supports Bahasa Malaysia as the country’s national language as specified under Article 152 of the Federal Constitution.

However, as Sarawak, Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia are equal partners under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63), SPA is concerned about the recent debate on the usage of English language as the medium of instruction in national schools.

SPA chairman Datuk Lau Pang Heng said other than the Federal Constitution, the National Language Act 1963/1967 (Act 32) states that Bahasa Malaysia is the official language although Act 32 has not come into force in Sarawak yet.

“In order for Act 32 to have the legal effect in Sarawak, an enactment ordinance has to be passed in the State Legislative (Assembly). This is provided for in Section 1(2) of Act 32. Up until today, the Sarawak government has not passed this enactment. Federal Constitution Article 161(3) states that no such act of Parliament shall come into operation pertaining to the use of English until the act or the relevant provision of it has been approved by enactment of the Sarawak State Assembly,” he said.

He added under the Cobbold Commission Report 1962 which stated that although the national language is Malay, there was no restriction on the usage of English as both Malay and English were recognised as the official languages without any time limit for Sarawak and Sabah.

“In view of the above, we are concerned with the recent announcement by the federal Minister of Education that English cannot be used as a medium of instruction in Sarawak national schools. We uphold that education is a federal matter for now until the return of Sarawak’s autonomy.

“However, we ask the minister to examine if his decision has contravened the MA63 and the Cobbold Commission,” said Lau.

He further elaborated that it must also be noted that Promise 44 of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto pledged that the Sabah and Sarawak governments will be given decision-making rights in education and health matters.

“We would like to congratulate the government for the formation of the cabinet committee concerning MA63 with a view that what belongs to Sarawak, must be returned to Sarawak. SPA hopes that the cabinet committee is not just to review the terms and conditions, but to review if Sarawak’s rights had been eroded over the years and if so, they must be returned to Sarawak,” he said.