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However, the Malayan members of the Cobbold Commission recommended that “…the continuance of English as an official language in the Borneo territories along with Malay for a period of 10 years after the establishment of Malaysia and to continue thereafter until such time as the Central Government in consultation with the State Government of the territory concerned provides otherwise…”.
However, the validity of the two Enactments is questionable because it was only on 13.05.1983 that the National Language Act 1983 stating “1…shall come into force in the States of Sabah and Sarawak on such dates as the respective State Authorities may by enactments of the Legislatures of the respective States appoint and different dates may be appointed for the coming into force of different provisions of this Act in those States…” was passed.
While the Federal Constitution still allowed the use of English in Sabah, the Sabah State Legislative Assembly has enacted otherwise. In this respect, Sabah should take every opportunity under the FC to forge ahead so that it can stand out and set new and higher standards. Article 153A of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore on 09.08.1965 allowed for four official languages, which are Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil with Malay as their National Language. In explaining the need for English as lingua franca and for three other official languages, the then Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew in his speech on 24.11.2004 stated that “English for trade; mother tongue to preserve identity”.