The Penang government’s controversial plan to erect multi-lingual signboards in heritage zones to cater for the needs of foreign visitors will now turn into a courtroom battle.

penang road sign dual language umno ngo files protest 041108 01 A newly-formed NGO comprising Malay graduates today filed a suit seeking a High Court injunction against both the state government and the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) from erecting the signboards.

The group calls itself Gabungan Graduan Melayu Muda (GGMM) or Young Malay Graduates Federation.

A pro-tem committee member, businessman Nik Rizman Sapian, 33, from Kuala Lipis, filed the suit claiming that he felt obliged to stop the authorities from "belittling the official status of Bahasa Malaysia".

In the writ, filed by his lawyer Sahrihan Jani, he also sought a declaration that the plan by the state authorities to add other languages to signboards has violated Article 152 of the federal constitution, which upholds the official status of Bahasa Malaysia.

penang road sign dual language umno ngo files protest 041108 nik risman sapain Nik Rizman ( right ) named MPPP and the state government as the first and second defendants respectively. Both have eight days to submit their statement of defence.

In addition to the court declaration and injunction, Nik Rizman is seeking costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

Some 100 GGMM members gathered outside the court building and chanted Hidup Melayu (Long live Malays) several times as Nik Rizman and Sahrihan appeared after filing the writ.

The duo were hugged and cheered, and hailed as “Malay heroes” by GGMM pro-tem president Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz and several others, in front of waiting journalists and police Special Branch officers.

thor teong ghee chinese road plate 250708 Nik Rizman told journalists that he had natural responsibility and rights as a citizen and Malay to defend the position of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language and official medium of instruction, as enshrined in the federal constitution.

Reason for going to court

The DAP-led state government decided last month to add more languages to the Bahasa Malaysia signage on public signboards in the Georgetown heritage zones.

The local authority added one more language - either English, Mandarin, Tamil or Arabic - on the signboards depending on the area, without deleting the official language.

Together with Malacca, George Town had been bestowed the Unesco World Heritage City status in July.

anwar ibrahim sodomy allegation saiful bukhari azlan first day in court 070808 lim guan eng Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has previously explained that his government was not belittling the official status of Bahasa Malaysia, but was merely adding other languages to cater for the needs of foreign visitors.

Asked about this added value to the signboards, Nik Rizman declined comment and said he would let his lawyer "do the talking on the matter in court".

Mohd Khairul said GGMM, formed two weeks ago, is still in the process of registration and that membership would now shoot up by 1,000 overnight because of its “guts” to file the suit.

He claimed that the organisation decided to seek legal redress since the Malay response to the issue was “as usual, passive and meek”, and confined to talk in coffee shops and letters to editors in newspapers.

"By taking it to court, we are adopting a legitimate stand with a 50-50 chance to win," said Mohd Khairul, a Ipoh-based lawyer.