“It’s unfortunate for PAS to have a leader with such a shallow mindset,” said Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, a vice-president of PBB, the mainstay of the ruling Sarawak coalition.

He said Islam advocates believers to acquire as much knowledge as possible. Being proficient in as many languages as possible would enable better communication with the rest of the world.

“Being good in English doesn’t mean someone has a colonial mindset,” he said. “Arabic is not the language of our region. Does learning Arabic mean we have a colonial mindset? No.”

“Don’t be a katak bawah tempurung,” he said, using the Malay proverb for remaining in ignorance.

Karim is state tourism minister and a senior member of the Sarawak government. English is an official language in Sarawak under the state constitution.

Karim said he was not surprised by Hadi’s comments about English as it came from the same person who made disparaging remarks about Dayaks in 2009 when he said only loincloth-wearing Dayaks voted Barisan Nasional.