KUCHING: Sarawak Patriots Association yesterday was displeased with Minister for Law in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong for his statement that the Chinese should be thankful to the
federal government for allowing their children to learn their native language in school.
SPA chairman Datuk Lau Pang Heng said going by Liew’s
statement, he was unsure if the minister had diverted from the Federal Constitution and the Education Act.
As provided for in the Federal Constitution, every Malaysian has the right to choose the language or languages they and/or their children want to learn.
He said the learning of mother tongue languages is also provided for in the Education Act 1996.
Thus, to say that the Chinese need to be thankful to the
federal government for allowing their children to learn Chinese in school is most uncalled for, he said.
Quoting Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution, Lau stated, “The national language shall be the Malay language. Provided that (a) no person shall be
prohibited from using (otherwise than for official purposes) or from teaching or learning any other language; and (b) nothing in this Clause shall prejudice the right of the Federal Government or of any State Government to preserve and sustain the use and study of the language of any other community in the Federation.”
SPA said this article is regarded as the constitutional safeguard or guarantee for the fundamental right to use and study the
mother tongues of the various communities in this country.
“As far as I know, there has been no serious challenge to the existence of vernacular schools in Malaysia although Chinese
educationists did challenge the government’s rejection of Merdeka University in the early eighties.
“Queen’s Counsel, Michael Beloff for Merdeka University at that time, argued that there was no law to back the policy which stipulates that Bahasa Malaysia shall be the sole medium of instruction in the Malaysian
education system.
“To do this, the government has to amend the Constitution to implement the National Education Policy. Otherwise, the implementation of this policy violates Article 152 of the Constitution,” he said.
Under Article 8(2) — relating to equality before the law — the Federal Constitution also states, “Except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law … or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.”
