| Constitution of Malaysia | ||||||
| Ratified | 27 August 1957 | |||||
| Authors | Delegates of the Reid Commission and later of the Cobbold Commission | |||||
| Purpose | Independence of Malaya in 1957 and formation of Malaysia in 1963 | |||||
Article 8
Clause 2 states: “Except as expressly authorised by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent, gender or place of birth in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.”
The exception in clause 2 is used to justify the reservations and special provisions for the Malays and the Bumiputras of Sabah and Sarawak under Article 153.
Article 152
Article 152 states that the national language is the Malay language. However, the Constitution guarantees the freedom of learning and using of other languages, except on official purposes. Official purposes here means any purpose of the Government, whether Federal or State, and includes any purpose of a public authority. To this effect, all court proceedings and parliamentary documents and meetings are conducted in Malay.[citation needed]The official script for the Malay language is determined by Parliament. The current orthography is the Latin alphabet or Rumi; however, use of Jawi is not prohibited.
Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Malaysia
