KUCHING: If there are misgivings over the continued use of English in place of Bahasa Malaysia, one needs to look no further than the country’s academia.
Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) Fellow, Professor Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan said by and large lectures were still being delivered in English at local universities.
He therefore questioned the seriousness of universities in promoting Bahasa Malaysia.
“In recent symposium on Internationalising the Malay Language, it was stated that only about five to ten per cent of inaugural lectures in a certain public university were delivered in Bahasa Malaysia.
“The rest were mostly delivered in English,” he said to New Sarawak Tribune.
Jayum’s revelation pours cold water on recent remarks by PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang that those encouraging the use of English at the expense of Bahasa Malaysia are doing so because they are still trapped in a colonial mindset.
His remarks set off a firestorm in both the mainstream and new media with politicians from both sides of the divide making their case for English as an international lingua franca.
In Sarawak where English is the second official language the stance taken by Abdul Hadi has not gained any traction.
And Jayum did not mince his words when he said matter-of-factly that it is the Malayans who are ignoring and not giving Bahasa Malaysia its due.
He said the view held by Abdul Hadi reflects the short-sightedness of most Malayans about nation-building and everything else about Malaysia, especially after 1963.
“Many Malayans are still locked in their perspective of Malaysia based on the Malayan concept of nation-building of 1957 that was constructed between the three major communities, the majority Malays and the minority Chinese and Indians,” he contended.
“They have not really embraced Malaysia, which is unfortunate for Keluarga Malaysia,” he said referring to the Malaysian Family slogan promoted by the Prime Minister .
He said the Sarawak Premier and his Cabinet had recently reaffirmed the role of English in the region.
This, he said, has to do with the regional autonomy provided for in the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63).
“The Malayans need to understand and appreciate this because it was MA63 which brought about the existence of the Federation of Malaysia.
Sabah and Sarawak were allowed to use English as their official language for the first 10 years after Malaysia.
In 1974, Jayum said, in the spirit of Malaysia, it was a Sarawakian, then the Minister of Education, Abdul Rahman Yakub, who worked to have Bahasa Malaysia accepted as the official language and the language of instruction in schools in Sabah and Sarawak.
“But Sarawak continues to emphasise the importance of English as the second official language “
Jayum said Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution states that Malay is the official language of Malaysia and that other languages, as stated in Article (1[a]) of the Constitution, specifically although not listed, such as Mandarin and Tamil shall not be prevented from being used, taught or learnt, including other languages of the indigenous of Sabah and Sarawak especially after 1963.
