KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — Perkasa Youth has joined other naysayers of Sarawak’s policy to use English in government matters, saying it saw no benefit in the move that the group called an affront to the Federal Constitution.

Its chief, Irwan Fahmi Ideris, said the policy effectively puts English on par with Bahasa Malaysia, the national language, and that Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem was betraying the country’s supreme law by adopting it.

“This chief minister is insulting what has been stated in the country’s Constitution. What is the basis of wanting to use English as the official language?

“For so long Bahasa Malaysia has been used without any problems, so why this decision? How will it benefit Sarawak?” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Irwan added that countries like Japan and France were proof that strengthening one’s own national language could bring about success instead of promoting English as the main medium of communication.

He further questioned the rationale of Adenan’s move as not all of Sarawak’s natives and residents were fluent in English.

“In fact, some of them can’t even speak Bahasa Malaysia. Shouldn’t the state be looking into improving this first as a top priority?” the Perkasa leader asked.

Adenan had earlier this week told a state civil service gathering that English is the official language of the administration, along with Bahasa Malaysia.

He told the civil service that all official government correspondence can be in both languages, adding that it was a practical and logical step.

“I have been labelled as not being nationalistic or patriotic enough by others when I advocate for the use of English in Sarawak. I am just being practical and logical,” he said.

He then cited recent reports claiming that graduates here have been finding it hard to get employment because of their poor command of English and said this proves his point on the need to be proficient in the language.

On Thursday, state minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Openg explained that Adenan was merely upholding Sarawak’s right under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to use English as the state’s official language.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said recently that Malaysian graduates often lose out in the job market as they lack confidence due to their poor command of the English language.

The Umno president said that despite scoring well in their examinations, Malaysian graduates still struggled to secure jobs because they fail to persuade employers that they possess the qualities sought after in the corporate sector

Parents groups have been lobbying the government to reintroduce the teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI), a policy introduced in 2003 but discontinued seven years later.

English-language lobbyist such as the Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) continue to push for the return of — or at least the option for parents to choose — the discontinued policy that they contend was needed to improve the mastery of English as well as technical subjects.