National Language Act 1963/67

National Language Act 1963/67
Parliament of Malaysia
Long title An Act to consolidate the law relating to the use of the national language.
Citation	Act 32
Territorial extent	Throughout Malaysia, except Sarawak
Passed by	Dewan Rakyat
Passed	11 March 1963
Enacted	1963 (Act No. 10 of 1963); and 1967 (Act No. 7 of 1967) Consolidated and revised: 1971 (Act 32 w.e.f. 1 July 1971)
Passed by	Dewan Negara
Passed	15 March 1963
Effective	Peninsular Malaysia–sections 9 to 11–11 April 1963, Act 10 of 1963; Remainder–1 September 1967, Act 7 of 1967
Legislative history
First chamber: Dewan Rakyat
Bill title	National Language Bill 1963
Introduced by	Abdul Razak Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister
First reading	28 November 1962
Second reading	11 March 1963
Third reading	11 March 1963
Second chamber: Dewan Negara
Bill title	National Language Bill 1963
Member(s) in charge	Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Yusof, Assistant Minister of Information and Broadcasting
First reading	15 March 1963
Second reading	15 March 1963
Third reading	15 March 1963
Amended by
National Language (Amendment and Extension) Act 1983 [Act A554] National Language (Amendment) Act 1990 [Act A765] Constitution (Amendment) Act 1994 [Act A885] National Language (Amendment) Act 1994 [Act A901]
Related legislation
National Language (Application) Enactment 1973 [En. No. 7/1973]
Keywords
National language
Status: In force

The National Language Act 1963/67 (Malay : Akta Bahasa Kebangsaan 1963/67), is a Malaysian law enacted to consolidate the law relating to the use of the national language, as promised by the preceding Malayan government to be done 10 years after its independence. ^[1]

Structure

The National Language Act 1963/67, in its current form (1 January 2006), consists of 11 sections and no schedule (including 4 amendments), without separate Part.

• Section 1: Short title, application and commencement
• Section 2: National language to be used for official purposes
• Section 3: Use of translation
• Section 4: Continued use of English may be permitted
• Section 5: Use of English language may be permitted in Parliament and Legislative Assembly
• Section 6: Authoritative text of laws
• Section 7: Written laws enacted prior to 1 September 1967
• Section 8: Language of Courts
• Section 9: Script of national language
• Section 10: Form of numerals
• Section 11: Forms

Application to Borneo States

Sabah

This Act has been extended to Sabah and approved by the State Legislature of Sabah to be applied to Sabah in 1973 under the National Language (Application) Enactment 1973 ^[2] and Article 161(3) of the Federal Constitution.

Sarawak

This Act does not apply to Sarawak as no enactment or approval has been made by the State Legislature of Sarawak since the formation of Malaysia in 1963 to allow this Act to be applied to Sarawak under Article 161(3) of the Federal Constitution. ^[3] English continues to be the official language for the state of Sarawak till this day.

References

1. Adelaar, K. Alexander; Himmelmann, Nikolaus, eds. (2005). The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar. p. 71. ISBN   0700712860.
2. "National Language (Application) Enactment 1973" (PDF). The State Attorney-General's Chambers of Sabah. 27 September 1973. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
3. Edward, Churchill (27 October 2023). "Baru: S'wak not bound by National Language Act 1963/1967, English remains one of its official languages". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 23 September 2024.

External links

• National Language Act 1963/67 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
• Script of the National Language: Motion by Onn Jaafar, MP for Kuala Trengganu Tengah on 14 December 1959 in the Dewan Rakyat