KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah-based think-tank has urged the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to adopt democratic and consultative procedures over replacing the English text of the Federal Constitution with the Bahasa Malaysia translation as the authoritative text.
Wisdom Foundation chairman Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau implored Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun, who announced the proposal on Jan 9, not to rely entirely on Article 160B if the AGC wished to initiate the transformation.
"Nevertheless, this proposed change arouses deep concern, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, as the Bahasa Malaysia translation has not been presented to the Federal Parliament and the state assemblies of Sabah and Sarawak and subjected to adequate debate and scrutiny. It also states that if there was any conflict or discrepancy between the national language text and the English language text of the Constitution, the national language text should prevail over the English language text.
"Within the purview of the Borneo States, Article 161 of the Federal Constitution states that English remains as the language used in the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak unless a change is approved by the Legislature of the State. "Hence, a premature change of the authoritative text to Bahasa Malaysia would fail to reflect the true intention of the 1957/1963 Federal Constitution and MA63.
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