THERE have been newspaper reports on the recent move by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) to propose punishment for those who disrespect the national language and by the Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) to make English the second official language of Sabah.
The fact that this issue on the official language of Sabah has cropped up again nearly 59 years after the formation of Malaysia in 1963 is akin to that of a grandfather reminiscing on lost opportunities for what could have happened if different choices were earlier made.
Is it too late now to make changes to the official language of Sabah?
To sort out this matter, we need to go back to the report by Lord Cameron Cobbold to Harold Macmillian, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on the matter of Independence of North Borneo (later known as Sabah) and the establishment of a federation (later known as Malaysia)