KUALA LUMPUR: Renowned lawyer Karpal Singh has found both supporters and detractors following his call to have the English language adopted as the nation's second official language after Bahasa Malaysia (BM).

Karpal also urged the government to amend the Federal Constitution to accommodate an extra national language.

Those that The Malay Mail spoke with were divided over the proposal made by the Bukit Gelugor Member of Parliament last week.

Malaysian Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan said: "It is a requirement that all court documents be submitted in BM. It is the law. I do not think this is a major problem for lawyers to file in documents in BM as we have been doing it for so many years."

Ragunath said the case which prompted Karpal, who is also the DAP national chairman, to call for the amendment was an isolated one.

"If that is the case, then what about the other languages, such as Tamil and Mandarin? Also, what does making English the second official language mean? Can English then be used in schools?"

Similarly, Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong, himself a lawyer, said: "From a lawyer's point of view, it has been stipulated that all court documents must be filed in BM.

"So, when one does not conform to that, the court is liable to strike out the course of action because such a provision is pivotal."

He said one is free to also provide an English translation, as long as the official document submitted to the courts is in BM.

"This is the law. If we were to allow one person not to follow the rule this time, then what next? The situation would become chaotic. It would be subjective as to which rule we would like to follow and which we would like
to ignore.

"If Karpal Singh is not happy, he can propose the amendment in Parliament and if he has the support, English can be made the second official language."

On the other end of the divide was Universiti Putra Malaysia English language department, English literature lecturer, Zainor Izat Zainal, who agreed with Karpal's call, stating English was already so widely used in Malaysia that it has practically become the unofficial second language.

"For some people, it is the third or fourth language. I do not see any problem in amending the Federal Constitution into making English the second official language as many people are already using it to conduct commerce and banking. If they were to use it in law, why not?"

Human Rights Commission Malaysia vice-chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun welcomed Karpal's suggestion.

While acknowledging BM was necessary as Malaysia must have one national language to unite the nation, Sipaun said: "Like it or not, English is becoming the language of the world.

"In Singapore, just about everybody speaks English but they are still Singaporean in every respect. In fact, I think you would make a better citizen if you also know another language."

He said the official use of English is becoming a global trend. "I know of other countries which have adopted English as a national language and in one such country, you can even use English in Parliament. Karpal's proposal is a good idea."

It was reported on Friday that Karpal made the proposal as he felt justice should not be forsaken or denied in cases thrown out of court merely because of technicalities, such as the language used.

Karpal was referring to Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Abdul Malik Ishak's decision to dismiss an appeal by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the latter's RM100 million defamation suit against former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad because the documents were submitted in English.

In his written judgment, Abdul Malik said lawyers had to use the national language when filing court documents.

Article 152 of the Federal Constitution, read together with the National Language Act, states that all proceedings, other than the giving of evidence by a witness, shall be in the national language.