After the commotion surrounding the Sarawak Government’s decision to change the name of its de facto top position of ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’, many quarters are still perplexed with the necessity of such a cosmetic change. The change itself required an amendment to the Sarawak State Constitution via a bill at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly supported by at least two-thirds of its assemblyperson; a feat easily achieved by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government who holds a supermajority in the ‘Wilayah’ or province.
Regardless of your stance on the name change, GPS’ exertion signalled a show of intent to differentiate Sarawak from the states in Peninsular Malaysia following the recent amendment to the Federal Constitution that restored the original spirit of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63). You see, Sarawak and Sabah were never meant to be ’states’ within Malaysia, but instead ’equal partners with the Federation of Malaya as prescribed by MA63 and the recent Federal Constitution amendment in Parliament seeks to restore the East Malaysian provinces’ rights and autonomy.
The rights of Sarawak and Sabah under MA63 and how both provinces were ‘duped’ into agreeing for their rights to be taken away by the then Barisan Nasional (BN) government in 1976 is a rather intriguing one, but let’s keep that story for another day. For this particular article, let’s delve into one of the rights under MA63 that Sarawak has been exerting for some 59 years now, which is the right to use English as its official language.
Yes, you read that right, English is still the official language of Sarawak.
Well, it is not the sole official language in the East Malaysian province, as like the rest of the country, Bahasa Malaysia is Sarawak’s official language and even its native languages can be used as the official medium of communication.
Speaking of which, there are more than 40 sub-ethnic groups in Sarawak and almost all of them have their very own unique culture, lifestyle and of course, language.
However, should you have the chance to witness the debates in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly, you’d notice that it is conducted mainly in English. Furthermore, some Sarawakian members of Parliament (MP) have also previously defended their right to use English in the Dewan Rakyat, most notably then Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen in 2015.
1. Relevant laws governing the official language of Malaysia
So, why is Sarawak allowed to use English as its official language up until today when both the National Language Act 1963/1967 (Revised 1971) and Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution assert that Bahasa Malaysia is the official language of the Federation of Malaysia?
Well, the reason is that the province has yet to recognise the National Language Act mentioned above. You see, Sarawak, as well as Sabah in this instance, abide by another provision which was set during the formation of Malaysia in 1963, which is the Cobbold Commission and Article 161(3) of the Federal Constitution.
In the Cobbold Commission Report, it was agreed by all sovereign territories making up Malaysia and further refined for MA63 that Malay shall be the national language and that English is the official language for 10 years after the formation of Malaysia, until the state legislature provides otherwise.
Furthermore, Article 161 of the Federal Constitution prescribes that 10 years after Malaysia is formed, Parliament can pass a bill on the use of English in the courts in Sabah and Sarawak, in the state legislature and for other purposes in both provinces.
About all the relevant legislation mentioned above, Sarawak had never actually passed any ordinance to restrict or terminate the use of English as its official language. Therefore, English remains one of the official languages of Sarawak.
2. Sarawakian leaders iterating that English shall remain the official language of the province
Throughout the years, various Sarawakian leaders have stressed that English is an integral language in the province and intends for it to remain as Sarawak’s official language. In 2015, the late Adnan Satem, beloved former Chief Minister of the province asserted that the most practical and logical step for Sarawak is to use both English and Bahasa Malaysia as its official language.
The same sentiment was reiterated by his predecessor and current Sarawak Premier Abang Johari in 2017, who said that English will remain an official language of the province. Most recently in 2021, Sarawak’s liberty to use English as its official language was confirmed by the Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, stressing that unlike other provinces or states in the country, Sarawak is not required to use Bahasa Malaysia in its official purposes.
Hence, due to all the reasons mentioned above, Sarawak still uses English as its official language even after 59 years of Malaysia’s formation. While many, particularly from Peninsular Malaysia would disagree with the usage of languages other than Bahasa Malaysia as the official language, they could not argue with Sarawak’s decision as it is well within its right to do so.
In fact, what is more Malaysian than exerting something that is part of the Malaysia Agreement 1963?
Jamie is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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