KUCHING: Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan has demanded that Sarawak’s regressive policy requiring the use of Bahasa Malaysia (BM) in government be exempted or excluded.
“There is simply no way we could avoid using English as our means of communication in the state.
“Enforcing punitive measure only makes it sound as if its an offence to use English,” he said, adding that it is ridiculous and irrational.
He said this while backing Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts, who remarked that imposing the use of BM in the civil service with punitive measures is absurd and stupid.
He pointed out that to civil servants, it can be oppressive when it comes to their performance appraisal.
He then asked whether federal officials would face ‘demerit’ if they communicated in English during seminars, training sessions or conferences.
Snowdan believed that through using English, people may improve and receive more benefits from their cognitive skills.
“Do not enforce the policy across the board.
“As far as Sarawak is concerned, this is where our autonomy in education comes in the picture,” he said.
On May 24, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali urged the Public Service Department to investigate the corrective and disciplinary actions that can be taken against those who wilfully disregard the empowerment of BM.
The action, he said, was in keeping with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s announcement that the BM would not only be strengthened in the country, but also used internationally.
