Sarawak to drop ‘state’ terminology as part of Federal Constitution amendments

March 16, 2019

KUCHING: The word ‘state’ will be dropped in all official government affairs as far as the Sarawak government is concerned.

Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this followed the amendments that would be made on Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution.

However, according to him, the policy of dropping the word ‘state’ does not mean that Sarawak is no longer a state in Malaysia.

Visit Sarawak Campaign

“Our intention is to distinguish Sarawak from other states in Malaysia but not the signatories of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“The MA63 was signed by the three parties namely the Federation of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak, so we cannot be ranked as equal with other states,” he said.

He made these remarks when met by reporters at the Sarawak Youth Run 2019 held at the Le’Park recreational park here today.