MalayMail-Jan 13
The actual meaning of words in the Federal Constitution’s original text in English could end up being ‘lost in translation’ in the Malay or Bahasa Malaysia (BM) translation, Sabah Law Society president Roger Chin has cautioned. Chin pointed out that the Malay translation of the Federal Constitution could potentially have the effect of amending constitutional rights without even going through Parliament and getting two-thirds majority support by MPs, due to the changes in meanings from the original English text. The lawyer said the rights guaranteed to Sabah and Sarawak in the Federal Constitution could even risk being impacted, if Malaysia adopts the Malay translation as the authoritative text to override the original English text. “Article 161E of the Federal Constitution requires consent from Sabah and Sarawak to amendments of certain Federal Constitution provisions and any reliance on a BM version which cannot be verified as to its accuracy runs the risk of Sabah’s and Sarawak’s rights being inadvertently affected without going through the process of getting two-thirds majority support in Parliament and also consent from Sabah and Sarawak state governors,” he told Malay Mail when contacted to weigh in on the Attorney-General’s recent proposal at the Opening of the Legal Year 2023 for the national language to replace English as the authoritative text for the country’s highest law. Article 161E is a provision that has been part of the Federal Constitution since Malaysia’s formation on September 16, 1963 — when Sabah, Sarawak, then Federation of Malaya and Singapore agreed to come together. Under Article 161E, which is titled “Safeguards for constitutional position of States of Sabah and Sarawak”, approval from Sabah and Sarawak is required for any amendments to key parts in the Federal Constitution which will affect those two Borneo Malaysian states. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/01/12/sabah-law-society-original-meaning-affecting-sabah-and-sarawak-rights-could-be-lost-in-translation-if-bm-supersedes-english-for-federal-constitution/49797
