English Is Still An Official Language In Sarawak. Not Because A Law Made It So — Because No Law Removed It.

Malaysia's official language is Bahasa Melayu, prescribed by Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, with the National Language Act 1963/1967 (Act 32) requiring its use for official purposes.

Sarawak is the exception — and the reason is a piece of legislative silence.

The mechanism:

Section 1(2) of the National Language Act provides that in respect of Sabah and Sarawak, the respective state authorities may adopt the Act by enactment of their own State Legislature.

Article 161(3) reinforces it: no Act of Parliament concerning the use of English shall come into operation in Sarawak until the Act, or the relevant provision of it, has been approved by enactment of the Sarawak State Assembly.

Sarawak has never passed that enactment.

As the then Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar stated in 2021:

"At present, there has not been any ordinance or enactment that has been brought and passed in the Sarawak state legislature to adopt Bahasa Malaysia as their official language."

And no law has removed English either. As one MP put it: "Unless there is a law specifically taking away the status of English as the official language of Sarawak, it will remain so. And so far there is no such law."

The Sabah contrast

This is the detail that makes Sarawak's position unique.

The Article 161 exception applies to both Sabah and Sarawak. But the Sabah Legislative Assembly approved the National Language (Application) Enactment 1973, restricting the use of English.

Sarawak did not.

Result: Sarawak is the only region in Malaysia where English remains an official language.

Note also that Sarawak did not drop or change the status of English in the ten years after joining the Federation — the window in which it might have been expected to.

Where the exception comes from

The roots are in the 18-point agreement, covered by the provisions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963, and incorporated as Annexure A to MA63.

In line with MA63, the Federal Constitution was amended to include Sabah and Sarawak's special position, allowing both to use English as an official language, as well as the native languages of their natives in Native Courts or for any native law and custom.

The Cobbold Commission Report 1962 stated that although the national language is Malay, there was no restriction on the usage of English — both Malay and English being recognised as official languages without any time limit for Sarawak and Sabah.

A related provision: Article 161(5) allows that notwithstanding Article 152, in Sabah or Sarawak a native language in current use may be used in native courts or for any code of native law and custom, and in Sarawak — until otherwise provided by enactment of the Legislature — may be used by a member addressing the Legislative Assembly or any committee. A Sarawak politician has noted using the Lun Bawang language in an opening address at a DUN sitting.

The 2015 declaration — and what it actually did

In 2015, Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem declared English the second official language of Sarawak, without derogating from the recognition of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.

But there is a serious argument that this changed nothing legally.

DAP state chairman Chong Chieng Jen argued:

"Therefore, the recent announcement by Adenan Satem is not an adoption of English as the second official language of Sarawak. It is merely putting right what has been wronged all this while."

His reasoning: the National Language Act had not been extended to Sarawak, and by virtue of Article 161(1) and (2), English remains the official language of Sarawak, with no restriction on its use for all official purposes.

He added a further point: it is likewise the right of Sarawak and Sabah MPs to speak in English in Parliament.

So the declaration was arguably declaratory rather than constitutive — restating a position that had never legally changed.

What it meant in practice

Following the 2015 announcement:

• the Sarawak Government would respond to letters in English in that language rather than in Bahasa Malaysia
• English would return to the Sarawak Assembly

The current practice, as reported:

• lawmakers mostly use English in state assembly debates
• lawyers and judges use English in the courts — a status English maintained in the High Court of Borneo and at the Court of Appeal and Federal Court for cases originating from Sabah and Sarawak
• Sarawak ministers frequently deliver speeches at public functions in English, especially in urban areas

The historical reason for the practice: English was the language of the courts and daily official use during the time of the White Rajahs, up until Malaysia was formed, and locals were accustomed to that status quo.

One qualification worth noting: commentary observes that Sarawak nonetheless "unofficially adopted Bahasa Malaysia as the official language" in practice — so the legal position and the administrative reality are not identical.

The controversy

The 2015 declaration was contested, and we set out both sides.

Against: Malay rights group Perkasa reportedly called Adenan's decision an "insult to the Federal Constitution", and Putrajaya's then adviser on social and cultural affairs Tan Sri Rais Yatim said it would sow discord among ethnic groups. It was criticised by many Malay leaders and rights groups.

For: the position rests on the Federal Constitution itself — Articles 152 and 161 read together, s.1(2) of the National Language Act, the Cobbold Commission Report and MA63. On this view Sarawak is exercising a right expressly preserved for it, not defying the Constitution.

The related education dispute. In 2018 the Sarawak Patriot Association raised concerns after the federal Education Minister announced English could not be used as a medium of instruction in Sarawak national schools, asking whether that decision contravened MA63 and the Cobbold Commission — while noting that education remains a federal matter for now, until the return of Sarawak's autonomy. Sarawak has yet to regain autonomy in education. See (13 Of 29 MA63 Issues Are Resolved. The Movement That Got Them There Started As A Banner.).

A broader constitutional point made in the same discussion: Acts of Parliament are not automatically extended in every case to Sabah and Sarawak, as the State Assemblies must also give consent.