Adenan: Master the English language, Chinese here centuries ago

PETALING JAYA - Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem has called on Sarawakians to master English as it was the international language of knowledge, and cited Singapore as an example they should follow.

Speaking at the opening of a new school building for the Chung Hua Primary School in Kuching, Adenan noted that Singaporeans spoke English well and said he saw no reason why Sarawakians could not follow the rest of the world in mastering the language.

“We do not live on the moon,” he was quoted by the Borneo Post online today as saying.

Adenan also reiterated that members of the Chinese community could no longer be regarded as “pendatang” as they had been in the state for many years, evident from the presence of thousands of century-old Chinese graveyards.

“These people did not die yesterday. They died 60 or 70 years ago.
“So why would you call them pendatang? They are not Bangladeshis or Burmese. They have been here for so many years.”

Adenan also restated his aim to restore the state’s powers and rights that he said had been surrendered to the Federal Government when the Malaysia Agreement 1963 was signed.

“I want those powers back in Sarawak, because we are not a state within Malaysia. We are a party in the formation of Malaysia,” he said, adding that he would continue pursuing the devolution of powers from Putrajaya.