States? Regions? What do we call Sabah, Sarawak now?

 

A historic constitutional amendment now classifies Sabah and Sarawak as Borneo "states" that make up one of two blocs in the Federation of Malaysia.

The amendments seek to elevate and restore Sabah and Sarawak's status as equal partners in the federation as per the Malaysia Agreement 1963 - rather than just "states" in the country equal to that of Selangor, Perlis, and the other Malayan "states".

But here we come to a problem, which you may or may not have noticed.

While the constitution does enshrine Sabah and Sarawak's new status, the language used to describe East Malaysia, does not reflect this.

It would hardly be surprising then if a month from now Borneo is treated and considered as just states in the country - as they have been for decades.

To quote from comedian-philosopher George Carlin: "We think in language, and the quality of our thoughts and ideas can only be as good as the quality of our language."

Changing the legalese and language used in the Federal Constitution is a tall order.

But here, you and I as common citizens can play a part in shaping the language used in our day-to-day conversations so that our language and ideas can evolve.

What then, if not states?

Now to preface this. I am not a Sabahan or Sarawakian. I am just a regular orang Malaya who believes in respecting our fellow citizens in Sabah and Sarawak, who are so often treated as an afterthought, or worse, as other than or less than Malaysians in the peninsula.

I do not assume to dictate what terms shall be used to refer to Sabah and Sarawak but rather I would like to help build on the conversation.

Back to the topic at hand.

Continuing to refer to Sabah and Sarawak as states, I fear, will only serve to continue the status quo before the MA63 amendments.

I feel it is incumbent on us as citizens to shape the conversation so that policy decisions in Putrajaya reflect this new equal partnership, rather than just being mere lip service to help certain groups cling to power.

So, what then if not states? There are several options that could be considered.

We could call Sabah and Sarawak 'regions', and this would probably be the easiest solution in my mind in terms of how it sounds and can fit easily into our conversations.

'Territories' could work too, but perhaps this may lead to confusion or association with the federal territories.

Or perhaps, more radically, we can refer to Sabah and Sarawak as 'nations'.

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ZIKRI KAMARULZAMAN is a member of the Malaysiakini Team. - Mkini