English will soon be an official language of Sarawak alongside Bahasa Malaysia, Chief Minister Adenan Satem announced today.

According to Borneo Post , Adenan said once the policy comes into force, correspondence and communications between the public and government agencies can be done in English too.

He added that government agencies were also welcome to use English among themselves in their official communication.

Adenan said the policy was aimed at improving English proficiency among civil servants and to also promote it among students and university graduates.

“I am just being realistic here. We don’t want our graduates to be unemployable. Our civil service also needs to converse in English,” he was quoted as saying.

He cited a report in The Star which said some 1,000 would-be doctors quit medicine due to their poor command of the English language.

He also noted that thousands of other Malaysian graduates could not find a proper job due to their poor English language skills.