PETALING JAYA: Sarawak has decided to uphold its practice of accepting official correspondence in English from local companies, public institutions, and private organisations.
This decision is a response to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent directive, where he emphasised the preference for letters to be written in Malay yesterday (Oct 25) at National Language Decade carnival and National Reading Decade in Cyberjaya.
Abu Bakar Marzuki, the state secretary of Sarawak told The Borneo Post that they have no intention in complying with the direction that the prime minister has instructed the government agencies.
Sarawak’s stance on language-related policies conflicting with the federal government is not a new occurrence.
Following Article 152 of the Federal Constitution states that Malay is the national language, Anwar also said that anyone that wrote in a language other than Malay will have their letter returned back to them.
Anwar emphasised that such a decision does not reflect a narrow-minded approach for Malaysia, as the government continues to recognise the significance of English proficiency.
In June of last year, Sarawak’s Chief Minister, Abang Johari Openg, declared that the state’s civil service would maintain English as an official language alongside the national language, Malay.
