Assoc Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi
KUCHING (Feb 15): An academician has questioned if the Sarawak government had referred to the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) prior to announcing the proposal of changing the term ‘Chief Minister’ (Ketua Menteri in Malay) to ‘Premier’ (‘Perdana’ or ‘Prima’ in Malay).
Universiti Malaya socio-political analyst Assoc Prof Awang Azman Awang Pawi opined that the matter should have been brought to the DBP – a statutory body with authority over the development of the national language across all fields including politics and governance, as well as science and technology.
“The state should have referred (the renaming) to the DBP in obtaining the accurate term, so that the term ‘Premier’ would not be mistaken as ‘Prime Minister’,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday when asked for comments about the proposal, which would be tabled in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Special Sitting today.
Awang Azman said his reaction to the proposed name change stemmed from concern about the likelihood of confusion among Sarawakians.
“Some may get confused and think that the name change means that the state government wants to have ‘another Prime Minister in Malaysia’,” he added.
The academician also said the proposed amendment to Sarawak Constitution seeking to change the title of Sarawak’s ‘Chief Minister’ to ‘Premier’ should be viewed in the context of the practices among other Commonwealth nations.
“Under the Westminster concept, the term ‘Premier’ refers to ‘Head of Government’ – for instance, the head of the government of Australian is known as a ‘Premier’, and so is the heads of regions in Canada.”
According to Awang Azman, the literal Malay translation of Chief Minister is ‘Ketua Menteri’, which is equivalent to the post ‘Menteri Besar’ in any Malaysian state that has a sultan.
“These are special names, but with no special translation.
“Even in English, a Chief Minister can be likened to a Menteri Besar.
“However, any head of government under the Commonwealth and the Westminster systems is known either as a ‘Prime Minister’, a ‘Premier’, a ‘Chief Minister’ or a ‘First Minister’.
“Unless being distinguished very clearly early on, these terms can be confusing when it comes to translating them into the national language,” he added.
Prof Dr James Chin
Meanwhile, political analyst Prof James Chin regarded the proposed name change as not only symbolic, but also indicative of Sarawak taking the lead in terms of championing the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) cause.
He was confident that once the constitutional amendment bill got passed in DUN Sarawak, Sabah would follow suit.
“It’s quite a big deal for both Sabah and Sarawak,” said Chin, an expert in Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia.
He also maintained that the term ‘Premier’ referring to heads of states in Australia and Canada was ‘commonplace as it is, in the Commonwealth jurisdiction’.
“Sarawakians need to know that it’s just a name change, which is hugely symbolic nevertheless.
“So if they want additional power for the ‘Premier’, then they (DUN) would have to change other parts of the Sarawak Constitution,” he said.
When met on the first day of the DUN Sarawak Special Sitting yesterday, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah viewed the proposed name change as ‘putting Sarawak in the right perspective in its journey to reclaim its rights as equal partner in the formation of Malaysia’.
Abdul Karim, also the state’s Minister of Youth, Sport and Entrepreneur Development, is tabling the Constitution of the State of Sarawak (Amendment) Bill 2022 today to effect the name change.
The Bill also seeks to rename Sarawak’s ‘Assistant Minister’ title to ‘Deputy Minister’.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3rReYN8
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