SIBU, Oct 26: The federal government is obligated to accept letters in the English language from Sarawak in official communications, says Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Michael Tiang.
He said the federal government is required under the law to accept all letters in English in Sarawak because the National Language Act 1963/67 was never extended to Sarawak.
“The federal government in fact has a duty to entertain English letters from Sarawak for official communications as the National Language Act 1963/67 was never extended to Sarawak.
“Sarawakians are therefore free to opt to use English or Malay for letters to federal government departments since both languages are official languages in Sarawak, particularly as the use of English language in Sarawak is guaranteed by Article 161(3) of the Federal Constitution,” he pointed out in a statement.
He was responding to Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s instruction to all government departments not to entertain any letters written in a language other than the national language.
Tiang who is also Pelawan assemblyman reminded the prime minister that English and Malay are official languages in Sarawak, and thus, the matter’s instruction does not apply in Sarawak.
He said when he was in the federal court in Kuala Lumpur many years ago, the court also made it clear at that time that letters in Sarawak which are written in English cannot be ignored.
“Which means we can use English in official communications and in our letters and the federal government cannot chuck it at the dustbin,” he said. — DayakDaily
