By Karen Bong
KUCHING, June 18: Sarawak is not against the national policy, Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said in sending a wake-up call to critics to be practical about the use of the English language, especially those who questioned Sarawak for not being in line with national policy on the use of Bahasa Malaysia (BM).
Highlighting that many digital technology terms cannot be directly translated to another language, including Bahasa Malaysia, he asked: “What is augmented reality in Bahasa (Malaysia)? ‘Realiti kembang’.”
“We cannot translate it directly. This applies to (the word) carbon as well. What’s carbon in your language (Bahasa Malaysia)? Carbon. People also feel something is wrong,” he said, drawing laughter among the delegates attending the 15th Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Convention at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here today.
Abang Johari made it clear that Sarawak has accepted that Bahasa Malaysia is the official national language but still maintained English as a language for communication which Sarawak has the right under the Federal Constitution.
Referring to Article 161(3), he quoted: “Without prejudice to Clause (1), no such Act of Parliament as is there mentioned shall come into operation as regards the use of the English language for proceedings in the High Court in Borneo or for such proceedings in the Supreme Court as are mentioned in Clause (4) until the Act or the relevant provision of it has been approved by enactments of the Legislatures of the States of Sabah and Sarawak; and no such Act shall come into operation as regards the use of the English language in the State of Sabah or Sarawak in any other case mentioned in paragraph (b) or (c) of Clause (2) until the Act or the relevant provision of it has been approved by an enactment of the Legislature of that State.”
This means Sarawak can use the English language, he asserted, as “we want to enter a digital, secular, and hydrogen economy in which the medium (in these new fields) is English which can be difficult to translate.”
“It is not that I’m not in line with or against national policy. I follow it, but I also have the right under this book (Federal Constitution). I have to be clear about this. Some people are questioning why Sarawak is like that.”
Abang Johari, who is also PBB president, added that being multilingual gives Sarawakians an advantage in the global arena.
“We in PBB do not ‘talk like wind’ (unrealistic) even though we have Wind Cave in Bau. It is a fact. That’s why in the PBB convention, we also use English.
“PBB members are multilingual. We can also speak Iban. We have a lot of languages. This is how we want to develop and go forward because Sarawak is a small State. We cannot compare to China, the United States, or Europe.
“We are small, but we are like ‘cili padi’. Let it be small but spicy. PBB is spicy,” he added. — DayakDaily
