Salam 2 all.
Teman
cukup tertarik dengan artikel tulisan Dato' Mohd. Noor Abdullah, mantan
Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan Malaysia yang mengupas tentang isu kedudukan dan
martabat Bahasa Melayu didalam Perlembagaan. Rasanya ini kali pertama
seorang bekas Hakim Mahkamah menulis artikel yang begitu substantif
mengenai Bahasa Melayu dalam konteks Perlembagaan*.
Secara
prinsipnya, Artikel 152 Perlembagaan meletakkan Bahasa Melayu sebagai
bahasa kebangsaan, bahasa negara. Walaupun asalnya tulisan asal bagi
Bahasa Melayu ialah ialah tulisan Jawi, namun untuk membolehkan ianya
dibaca oleh semua orang, maka tulisan Bahasa Melayu telah dirumikan.
Ini suatu kehebatan Bahasa Melayu; boleh ditulis dan difahami dalam dua bentuk tulisan; Jawi dan Rumi!
Sebagai
prinsip Perlembagaan, bermakna apa juga bahan komunikasi didalam negara
yang dahulunya dikenali sebagai Persekutuan Tanah Melayu ini mestilah
dalam Bahasa Melayu.
Samada urusan Kerajaan, sekolah, IPT, badan berkanun, GLC dan semua urusan rasmi - wajib menggunakan Bahasa Melayu!
Dalam
konteks itu, kalau kita benar-benar menghayati Perlembagaan, tidak
timbul soal mahukan sekolah aliran selain Bahasa Melayu. Semua sekolah
yang dibiaya menggunakan wang negara wajib menggunakan aliran Bahasa
Melayu.
Mana-mana
sekolah yang mahu kekal menggunakan bahasa selain Bahasa Melayu, maka
mereka tidak boleh dibiaya menggunakan wang negara. Mereka sepatutnya
kekal status sebagai sekolah persendirian dengan pembiayaan
persendirian.
Idea
yang dilontarkan oleh Dato' Mohd Noor Abdullah sangatlah menarik.
Persoalannya ialah adakah dasar kerajaan sekarang memberi pembiayaan dan
peruntukkan besar kepada sekolah vernakular aliran selain Bahasa Melayu
bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan?
Ini
persoalan yang wajib dijawab oleh pihak berkuasa. Kalau begitu, mengapa
peruntukkan dan pembiayaan tidak diberikan kepada sekolah aliran Iban,
Dayak, Dusun, Kadazan, Jakun dan lain-lain. Mereka lebih layak kerana
mereka adalah penduduk kaum asli negara ini!
Bermakna
rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina dan India sepatutnya bersyukur dan
berterimakasih banyak-banyak kepada Kerajaan Barisan Nasional yang
sanggup mengenepikan peruntukkan Perlembagaan semata-mata untuk membantu
mereka.
Tetapi
budi ditabur, tuba dibalas. Ternyata komitmen yang ditunjukkan oleh
Kerajaan Barisan Nasional ditolak mentah-mentah oleh golongan cauvinis
apabila berlaku 'tsunami Cina' didalam PRU-13 menentang Barisan Nasional.
Persoalannya,
adakah Kerajaan Barisan Nasional masih mahu memberi muka kepada
golongan cauvinis ini? Sebenarnya masih ada kaum Cina dan India yang
menginsafi dan menghargai pengorbanan yang dibuat oleh Kerajaan Barisan
Nasional kepada mereka selama ini.
Dan
masih ada kaum Cina dan India yang sedar bahawa demi integrasi nasional
dan perpaduan kaum pelbagai agama dinegara ini, peruntukkan
Perlembagaan menjadikan Bahasa Melayu sebagai satu-satunya bahasa
komunikasi harus diterapkan dan dilaksanakan tanpa sebarang kompromi
lagi.
Persoalannya,
adakah Kerajaan Barisan Nasional mempunyai ketahanan politik untuk
melaksanakan salah satu Rukun Negara ini - keluhuran Perlembagaan?
Soalan itu mike jawablah yop.
Adios amigos, grasias senor.
Zulkifli Bin Noordin
Khamis
11 Sya'ban 1434
20 Jun 2013
*Artikel
dibawah ini ditulis oleh Dato' Mohd Noor Abdullah dalam versi bahasa
inggeris kerana sasaran audiens beliau ialah mereka yang tidak faham
Bahasa Melayu.
***********************************************
NATIONAL LANGUAGE
152 (1)
The national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in such script
as Parliament may by law provide:
Provided that:
(a) no person shall be prohibited or prevented
from using (otherwise than for official purpose), or from teaching or learning
any other languages;
(b) nothing in the clause shall prejudice the
right of the Federal Government or of any State Government to preserve and
sustain the use and study of the language of any community in the Federation.
REPHRASED AS FOLLOWS:
The national language
- shall be the Malay language AND
- shall be in such script as Parliament may by law provide
Provided that:
(a) no person shall be prohibited
or prevented
- from using (otherwise than for official purpose) or
- ‘from teaching or learning any other language; and
(b) nothing in the clause shall
prejudice the right
- of the Federal Government
- of any State Government
(c) to
- preserve and,
- sustain
(d) the
- use and,
- study
of the language of any other community in the
Federation.
My interpretation of the above expression are as
follows:
1. ‘National language’ means the common
language of all the communities in the Federation that moulds together
to form a nation. And there is no national language if and where every
community speaks and writes in the language of that community without any
common language being used (speak and write) by all and each and everyone of the
communities.
2. The Malay language since the advent of
Islam to the Malay Archipelago in the early
1400s is in Jawi or Arabic script. The Constitution empowers Parliament to
prescribe the script of the Malay language. The National Language Act 1963/67 prescribe
Rumi or Roman script.
Please note that the Malays sacrificed their
religious obligation to read, write and recite the Qur’an in the Jawi
script for the general good of all Malaysians, namely that all Malaysians
be able to use, teach and learn the Malay language in Rumi. The use of Jawi
script may be used.
3. For all official purpose, only the Malay
language must be used and none other. ‘Official purpose’ means any
purpose of the Government, whether Federal or State and includes any purpose of
a public authority.
4. For all official purpose, the
National Language Act 1963/67 may prohibit or restrict the use of any language
other than the Malay language and may further provide that it is an offence
to use (speak and write) any other language for official purpose and to provide
the punishment or penalty thereof.
5. No one neither any organization
nor the Government has power to prohibit completely or prevent wholly or partly
any person from teaching or learning any other language. It means anybody who
desires to teach and learn and speak, for example, the Chinese language or
Tamil or Telegu or any other, do so privately.
The Government cannot clamp it BUT the Government
MUST NOT, nonetheless, encourage it by establishing or assisting in
establishing and by providing funds and facilities. To do so is tantamount to
prejudicingnor disfavouring the use of the Malay language to compete with each
other. Article 152 of the Federal Constitution disallows such a policy.
6. The Government may allow the
use of the community language in designated areas, for example tourism enclave,
warning signs at restricted areas or dangerous/hazardous spots or at entry and
exits points etc. The Government may set up Language Laboratories or Department
of Language Studies (Chinese or Indian language) in colleges or universities
envisaged by Clause (1) (b).
7. This Article is an enabling
provision because it enables any person to teachand learn and use any language.
A foreigner can likewise do so. It is NOT a right vested to anybody. It merely
allows anyone to teach and learn the language NOT to teach and learn in
the language.
Bluntly put, one cannot teach and learn Chinese
history and literature or Indian Monkey God Masquerading the Polynesian Islands
in 8th century in Chinese language or in any of the
Indian languages in our schools. I must express that this point of view is
contentious because Justice Youseffe Abdul Kadir said somewhat similar, obiter
dicta, in Merdeka
University case.
8. Finally , the expression ‘using
otherwise than the official purposes or from teaching or learning’ in Clause
(1)(a) must mean differently from the expression ‘the use and study’ in Clause
(1)(b).
9. Let us look beyond Article 152 and to
consider whether our Education Policy is consistent with or in contradiction
with Article 8 in respect of equality and Article 12 in respect of
discrimination.
Firstly
Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) teach
among other subjects Mandarin dan Tamil. Whereas the Government does not
establish or assist in establishing Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Telegu),
(Malayalam), (Punjabi), (Urdu), (Siam) etc.
The Chinese and Tamil communities are the
priviledges communities among other like communities. The Orang Asli should be
more priviledged than all the communities. Chinese or Tamil school teachers,
headmasters and staff are appointed and paid salaries with Government Funds, but
not with other communities.
The Government acquired lands or allocate public
money to these two communities but not to other communities. Moreover the
discrimination is not just and equitable and is not excepted or exempted under
the Constitution.
10. Article 12 prohibits discrimination against
citizens on the ground of race in the administration of public educational
institutions or public institutions partly funded from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan
(Cina) and (Tamil), unlike the privately funded Chinese or Tamil schools (if
any), are discriminitory and abhorrent to the Constitution which declares
imperatively that shall be no discrimination against citizens and on
ground of race. Government funds cannot be selectively or discriminately
allocated to one and denied to the other communities.
11. Article 12(2) makes it lawful for the
Government to establish and maintenance or otherwise assist Islamic
institutions and to provide funds and expenditure as much as it may be
necessary. BUT similar enabling provisions is no where found and according to
the rules of interpretation the Constitution intentionally omits it and deny
similar or the same priviledges to all other religious communities.
12. At this time after the 13th
General
Election, I refrain from commenting on the rights of Bumiputera Sabah
and Sarawak in respect of education. Suffice it for me to say
the least the Article 152 should be but is not amended to empower the
State
Government of Sabah and Sarawak to provide
similar provisions under Article 12(2) in respect of Bumiputera
languages.
13. Finally, for the love of our blessed country,
the prevailing continued enjoyment of peace and harmony among our communities
and the future wellbeing, prosperity and brotherhood of our next generation and
the next following and so forth. LET US ALL together urge the Government of the
day to transform the Government Education Policy to one which admit all our
pupils to study together in the same primary schools and our students in the
same secondary schools and thereafter to the universities where our X-Y and
Z-gen study together under the same roof, eat and drink in the same canteen and
play, exercise and rejuvenate in the same field, court and gym.
May it be
known publicly that this writer was a qualified Tamil Court Interpreter
and reads and writes Tamil and lived with the community at Sentul Railway
Quarters form one year in 1960. The writer attended Further Education Class in
Mandarin briefly when he served as a Majistrate in Penang
in 1970. The writer also learnt Arabic from ‘Learn Arabic, Linguaphone Records’.
Researched and Presented by: Justice Dato’ Mohd Noor
Abdullah, retired Court of Appeal Judge,
Malaysia
