Bacaan doa” during assembly, banning the cheerleading team, stopping the Talent Night Event, no more wearing of shorts for PE and for CNY, lion dance performance without the drum ? Unless the principal of SMK Bandar Utama 4 Damansara shows that she was otherwise directed by the State Education Department or Ministry of Education, she should be asked to show cause why she should not be removed for unilaterally running the school like some madrasa, agama or religious school. Her attitude is wrong : why reject activities and charity on Valentine’s Day because she is a Muslim and does not celebrate Valentine’s Day? The activities are for the students, the majority of whom are not muslims. The school is for them students or for her? Sigh – this kind of mentality. She’s a very bad role model for pluralistic Malaysia.

On the issue of whether YDP PIBG could present his speech in English instead of national language of Bahasa Melayu, the issue is more complicated but try to look at it this way.

YDP PIBG did it because maybe he felt that it was more expedient to speak in English familiar or widely spoken to the parents present there.

Or maybe he felt he was more fluent in English than Bahasa. To use English does not mean one is denigrating the importance of the National Language (Bahasa) – where does one get this idea otherwise? Is it an offence to be more fluent in English than Bahasa and to resort to the former where it serves communication best having regard to the audience addressed?

I don’t think it is an offence.

However if there were a directive from Ministry/State Education Dept that PIBG must be conducted in national language, then if YDP is a principal or teacher under the STATE’S PAYROLL (which most time I would imagine the YDP PIBG being a most likely parent, is not ), is to contravene the directive.

But was there a directive? I would think that the fact that YDP PIBG prepared his speech in English shows that there was no directive to the school that he must present it in National Language….Otherwise he would have presented it in Bahasa or if not conversant get someone else conversant to present for him or just read the speech out in Malay.

Assuming the question of Ministry’s directive in this regard does not arise to complicate the issue what would be the ultimate legal position?

I am no expert or lawyer on this but would imagine it is affected not so much by article 152(1) of Federal Constitution posted by Chong Zhemin but more by our National Language Act which basically says that the national language shall be used for official purposes.

But what is official purposes ?

“Official purpose” is, according to article 152(6) of our Constitution – “any purpose of the Government, whether Federal or State, and includes any purpose of a public authority”.

Starting with a school like SMK BUD4 – is it a public authority? As it’s not Government, whether Federal or State, it revolves around the question whether that school is a “public authority” as defined so that PIBG being annual meet of parents with the school could also become an “official purpose” of a “public authority” caught under National Language Act that the National language has to be used?

What is a public authority?

According to constitutional definition “Public authority” means “the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Ruler or Yang di-Pertuan Negeri of a State, the Federal Government, the Government of a State, a local authority, a statutory authority exercising powers vested in it by federal or State law, any court or tribunal other than the Supreme Court and High Courts, or any officer or authority appointed by or acting on behalf of any of those person, courts, tribunals or authorities”.

There are some who would argue that a school is a public or local authority. They say that is because it is established by from state funds and by govt (Ministry of Education). They say it is unlike private colleges established from private funds or whatever….

I may be wrong but we have to ask whether if something like a school that is established by a public authority like Ministry of Education, does it make the school automatically itself a public authority?

The Ministry of Health also established General Hospital (“GH”) but is GH is a public or local authority in the ordinary grammatical sense of the word?

I am inclined to think not so, and therefore National language Act arguably ought not to catch an AGM of PIBG as official purposes of government or public or local authority for National Language to be mandatorily used.

And the YDP chairing the PIBG – he is likely a parent, isn’t he/she ?

So not being the principal or teacher, the parent cannot be described as “any officer or authority appointed by or acting on behalf of any of those person (meaning the government or public authority eg Ministry of Education, so the National language Act apply to him/her?

You can say he is a useless Malaysian, not conversant in the national language but that’s just an opinion, whether a person is a good and patriotic Malaysian surely cannot be judged by his fluency in national language as the Malay nationalists/Dewan Bahasa people would try to judge, at this time that the government itself is trying re-promote English for our people to meet the requirements of Globalised world.

Sometimes he may be conversant with Bahasa but adjudge the situtation to be better conducted in English based on audience feedback in English – Does that make him disrespectful of National Language? I should think not. He has not committed any offence either in using English. So whats the fuss?

“when” in 2nd sentence from top is typo error, should be deleted.