KOTA KINABALU: While the motion submitted by two opposition state assemblymen to make English as second official language in Sabah is welcome, however, it will be good to also include the KadazanDusun and Chinese languages in their submission, said Gee Tien Siong.
“The opposition assemblymen, one with mother tongue Hakka and the other Kadazan, ended up with both only caring about making a ‘foreign language’ as Sabah’s official language.
“Let us look at Singapore for example, Singapore has four languages – Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English – all are official and equal languages, while Malay is their national language.
“All four languages are used for street names, public signboards, official announcements, et cetera in Singapore. On top of that, various dialects can be freely spoken among its communities. This is what we can follow, to give proper status and enhance our own local languages.
Gee, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) vice president said due to the decline of multiple native languages in Sabah and to preserve these languages unique to our region, more attention should be given.
He pointed out that after the Daily Express ended its Kadazan-Dusun daily edition on 1 June 2020, resulting Kadazan Dusun News in Sabah can only survive on the internet portal nowadays, and it will face extinction if not protected.
Gee reminded all lawmakers, especially the opposition, to carry out their task seriously with people in mind, rather than do it for the sake of attracting publicity and political leverage.
He also called on the state government to establish its learning institutes on various native ethnic languages in Sabah to enable these endangered languages to continue to thrive along with our multiple cultures.-pr/BNN
