NOVEMBER 30 — Since Sarawak chief minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem was reported on Nov 18 as saying that the state will adopt English as an official language alongside Bahasa Malaysia, there has been plenty of interesting reactions.
But it is difficult to find anyone putting together a coherent, sensible and logical argument against the idea and its stated purpose. In turn it makes you wonder what the real problem with the move is.
Let’s look at the underlying logic driving the decision. According to Adenan, the policy aims to improve English proficiency among civil servants while promoting the same among students and graduates, citing examples that highlight the deteriorating command of English among younger Malaysians today.
Now let’s look at what critics say in response. Social and Cultural Affairs Adviser to the Government Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim claims the move will create a rift in society and harm unity.
"Isn't this a disintegration or will it not cause a split in society? So, in terms of nationhood, I am not in favour of the state government's stand," he reportedly said.
The Malay Economic Action Council claims adopting another official language for state affairs would alienate rural folk. The Kuala Lumpur Malay Chamber of Commerce thinks this as well, claiming status quo is fine because there is no language barrier as it is with Bahasa Malaysia.
Perkasa goes further by claiming Adenan’s policy is an insult to the Federal Constitution by putting English on par with Bahasa Malaysia. “In fact, some of (Sarawakians) can’t even speak Bahasa Malaysia. Shouldn’t the state be looking into improving this first as a top priority?” Perkasa youth leader Irwan Fahmi Ideris was quoted as saying as he claims not all Sarawakians are fluent in English.
Notice that none of these complaints touch on the underlying logic stated by Adenan --- to promote better English proficiency among civil servants, students and graduates.
Make no mistake, our descent into an increasingly dark abyss of English incompetence is a real problem. (For a glimpse of how bad the situation is, fellow columnist Azrul Mohd Khalib explains here.)
And the reasoning offered by these critics doesn't quite hold water. Bear in mind that Sarawak is not replacing Bahasa Malaysia with English but merely acknowledging both as acceptable mediums of communication for official affairs.
Would there be disintegration of society as Rais claims? Would it really alienate rural folk whose English may not be so fluent?
Hardly, because people who want to use Bahasa Malaysia for official government affairs can go on as they were while people who are more comfortable with English can now have an easier time. By contrast this move may promote further integration as people who have difficulty with Bahasa Malaysia can breathe easier and just use English without running into trouble in Sarawak.
And in Sarawak itself, one of my old classmates pointed out (jokingly) that the unofficial supreme language of Sarawak remains the Kuching dialect. Do you hear a big, loud majority of Sarawakians complaining about this? No.
That last point raises an interesting question: Since this policy only affects Sarawak, why are non-Sarawakians making such a fuss about it?
I submit that the underlying cause of complaint is the awkwardness: as people in power play ostrich about our state of emergency vis-a-vis deteriorating English among our graduates, here is one state taking concrete, positive action.
This policy alone may not be much on Adenan’s part and more symbolic than anything. It remains to be seen whether the Sarawak Teachers’ Union will take up state minister Michael Manyin’s call to submit a blueprint aming to reintroduce English as a medium of instruction in Sarawakian schools.
And it also remains to be seen whether concrete, long-term follow-up will follow as and when such a blueprint is submitted. We still don’t know if Adenan really will get the greater state autonomy he asked for and whether that means Sarawak will get to shape its own education policy in order to allow this change in medium of instruction.
But all this is certainly a lot more concrete than what Putrajaya is doing on the federal level. We were all told about the great education blueprint drafted under former deputy prime minister cum education minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin but then again there is already talk about moving away from this blueprint since his fall from grace politically.
We have had talk about importing English teachers from India to beef up the teaching staff, some of whom can’t even speak proper English themselves. And then we go on to put that on hold and are now talking about getting retired English teachers back into the system as reinforcements.
The flip-flop is getting us nowhere and the Umno-led federal government is taking flak for it. Sarawak has added salt into the wound by doing something popular and seemingly taboo for Umno itself.
As an aside, it is also another move in the overall quest for greater autonomy by Sarawak although state opposition leader Chong Chieng Jen argues English has always been the official language of Sarawak since Malaysia was formed, by virtue of the Federal Constitution.
Like the issue concerning "Allah" and Malaysian Christians, Adenan has again put Putrajaya in an uncomfortable position by saying all the right things as his federal compatriots in Barisan Nasional remain in a state of denial.
To paraphrase Adenan, we don’t all live on the moon when it comes to what needs to be done about our problems. And that’s probably the main cause of all this fuss about something that essentially only affects Sarawakians in the first place.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
