KUCHING: The word “state” will be removed from all official government matters according to the Sarawak government.
Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah who revealed this said the move was following amendments to be made on Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution.
He however said the move to remove the word “state” does not mean that Sarawak is no longer a state in Malaysia. Henceforth, Sarawak will be known as a region.
“Our intention is to differentiate between Sarawak and the other states in Malaysia. We cannot put ourselves (Sarawak) on the same level as the other states because we were known as “Wilayah Sarawak” in the MA63,” he said, adding that the matter has already been laid out but has not been debated yet.
“The MA63 was signed by three parties namely the Federation of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak. We are not saying that Sarawak is a country but it should be known as a region,” he added.
He also noted that the matter was not an enforcement issue but just an exchange of recognition and an administrative matter.
