| Short Title: | National Language Act 1963/67 |
| Legislature: | Parliament of Malaysia |
| Long Title: | An Act to consolidate the law relating to the use of the national language. |
| Citation: | Act 32 |
| Territorial Extent: | Throughout Malaysia, except Sarawak |
| Enacted By: | Dewan Rakyat |
| Date Enacted: | 1963 (Act No. 10 of 1963); and 1967 (Act No. 7 of 1967) Consolidated and revised: 1971 (Act 32 w.e.f. 1 July 1971) |
| Date Passed: | 11 March 1963 |
| Enacted By2: | Dewan Negara |
| Date Passed2: | 15 March 1963 |
| Date Effective: | Peninsular Malaysia–sections 9 to 11–11 April 1963, Act 10 of 1963; Remainder–1 September 1967, Act 7 of 1967 |
| Bill: | National Language Bill 1963 |
| Introduced By: | Abdul Razak Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister |
| 1St Reading: | 28 November 1962 |
| 2Nd Reading: | 11 March 1963 |
| 3Rd Reading: | 11 March 1963 |
| Bill2: | National Language Bill 1963 |
| Introduced By2: | Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Yusof, Assistant Minister of Information and Broadcasting |
| 1St Reading2: | 15 March 1963 |
| 2Nd Reading2: | 15 March 1963 |
| 3Rd Reading2: | 15 March 1963 |
| Amended By: | National Language (Amendment and Extension) Act 1983 [Act A554] National Language (Amendment) Act 1990 [Act A765] Constitution (Amendment) Act 1994 [Act A885] National Language (Amendment) Act 1994 [Act A901] |
| Keywords: | National language |
| Status: | In force |
The National Language Act 1963/67 (ms|Akta Bahasa Kebangsaan 1963/67), is a Malaysian law enacted to consolidate the law relating to the use of the national language, as promised by the preceding Malayan government to be done 10 years after its independence.[1]
The National Language Act 1963/67, in its current form (1 January 2006), consists of 11 sections and no schedule (including 4 amendments), without separate Part.
This Act has been extended to Sabah and approved by the State Legislature of Sabah to be applied to Sabah in 1973 under the National Language (Application) Enactment 1973[2] and Article 161(3) of the Federal Constitution.
This Act does not apply to Sarawak as no enactment or approval has been made by the State Legislature of Sarawak since the formation of Malaysia in 1963 to allow this Act to be applied to Sarawak under Article 161(3) of the Federal Constitution.[3] English continues to be the official language for the state of Sarawak till this day.