KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth has lashed out at Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar for hinting that action would be taken against the Malaysian Bar Council for holding a Social Contract Forum last Saturday.
Its legal bureau chief, Gan Ping Sieu, was disappointed with Syed Hamid for saying that the police could begin investigations if a report was lodged against the Bar Council for sedition.
"Discussing the process of drafting the Constitution, including its historical background and reasons, must not be interpreted as questioning the Malays' special position," he said in a statement yesterday.
He added that no one should object to organisations or bodies which conducted forums to discuss the Federal Constitution objectively and rationally, without distorting the facts.
It was reported that speakers at the forum -- lawyer Tommy Thomas, academic Dr Mavis Puthucheary and political analysts Dr Kua Kia Soong and Dr Farish Noor -- discussed Article 153 of the Federal Constitution in relation to Malay rights.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had also criticised the forum, saying it was part of the Bar Council's move to suppress and discredit the Malays and Islam.
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had called the forum an "unhealthy" development, adding that the social contract on the position and rights of the Malays was a historical fact.
Gan, however, argued that the forum was needed because the public had the right to clearly understand Article 153.
He said the MCA believed that all Malaysians were knowledgeable and mature enough to openly discuss any matter related to the Constitution.
"Anyone who wants to prevent such forums has actually gone against freedom of speech as enshrined in the Federal Constitution."
NST Online
03/07/08
PEOPLE'S POWER
1 comment:
Hi. I am non-Muslim. We are going to discuss Malaysia. In Malaysia it may be possible that most of the beneficiaries of public assistance are Malays. But most of the have-nots are also Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. I have no problems with this. We want a no Malaysian left behind Malaysia. Both Malays and non-Malays have to live in Malaysia. We should not take a tough stand. The art of compromising is just as important. So, read on.
Even a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. If I may add a right step, please read on.
There is a quest for equality by non-Malays on the one hand and there is a fear of losing their special status among Malays on the other hand. So we have to reach a happy medium.
Many decades ago, the Muslim Malays were mostly sarong-clad; and at that time, when any Muslim Malay broke ranks and wore long pants and shirt, he would be considered pro-Western and thus a traitor by the Muslim Malay community. If you used silver ware like forks and spoons to eat food, you risk being called a traitor too. Later on, even if you ate burgers and hot dogs, you risk being branded pro-Western and a traitor. Commercially available disposable menstrual pads are also a Western idea and I bet is used by both Western and Eastern females today. Today, Malaysia, the country of my birth, is on the verge of becoming a developed nation. Unfortunately, the Malays do not credit the non-Malays adequately for their contribution to Malaysia’s growth and development. I, personally, have helped to build a hydro-electric dam in Perak, which will out live me. It was in the early 1980’s. The dam will continue to give out electricity to many generations to come. The photographs I took of the dam building continue to be my pride and joy. Like all construction industry, some workers died. Yes, I have served Malaysia in my own way. I am almost inclined to call the dam, my dam. Yes, it is my dam. It’s my gift to Malaysia. Despite that, I never asked for first class citizenship status. I only asked for religious equality. I only asked for changing faith is an inviolable human right. Some Malays feel that since they gave citizenship to non-Malays, the non-Malays must be willing to accept second-class status. My position is that, I am willing to accept second or whatever class status provided we separate Malay from Islam. We must be allowed to espouse secularism and liberalism. We have to recognize secularism and liberalism as another faith. Islam has no right to have a special status in Malaysia. No religion has the right to use political power and enforcement. Religions no longer have a monopoly over truth and knowledge. Changing faith is an inviolable human right.
It is pretty obvious that we have to increase the bi-racial population of Malaysia in order to stabilize the nation. Increasing the bi-racial population has nothing to do with political power. However, the politicians can remove obstacles to increase the bi-racial population. The obstacle is the special status for Islam in Malaysia. Currently, if Muslims and non-Muslims want to marry, then both have to convert to Islam or leave the country. This is the obstacle. If Muslim Malaysians are allowed to leave Islam, then there may be more marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims. Changing faith is an inviolable human right. If we support changing faith is an inviolable human right, then we are supporting Bangsa Malaysia.
In addition there is another matter to deal with. We do have, in Malaysia, a Department of Religious Affairs, but it is exclusively for Islam. Islam has no right to have a special status in Malaysia. To counterbalance the Department of Islamic Affairs, we now need a Department of non-Muslim Affairs. The Islamic issues can be taken care of by the Department of Religious (Islamic) Affairs, while the Department of non-Muslim Affairs will take care of issues regarding non-Muslims. Then, both Muslims and non-Muslims can co-exist. You see, I never asked for first class status. I only asked for religious equality.
We may need a constitutional amendment to create two kinds of Malays: Muslim Malays and non-Muslim Malays.
As far as I know public assistance programs alone cannot address the problem of disparity between the Malays and non-Malays. As far as I know it has only been proven that Malays are political power and public assistance dependent. It is politically impossible to wean Malays from public assistance. For example, the public assistance programs of pre-1970’s was not successful. So from 1970-1990 they had the New Economic Policy which is also not successful and therefore there is a desire to continue it beyond 1990. Now some people want to introduce the Malaysian Economic Agenda. I have my reservations after so many failures. Therefore I say, try bi-racial. Many bi-racials have gotten ahead. While the public assistance to the needy continues, let us hope that the number of bi-racials increase too. That is, we should have a two-pronged attack to solve this problem of social and economic disparity between the Malays and non-Malays: on the one hand we should continue public assistance for the needy, and on the other hand we should amend the constitution to create two kinds of Malays (Muslim Malays and non-Muslim Malays) so that the number of bi-racials would increase. Trust me when I tell you that many bi-racials have gotten ahead. If the economic and social disparity between Malays and non-Malays continues, then ethnic jokes will continue which is unhealthy. The solution is, try bi-racial.
Step by step the non-Malays should claim full citizenship rights. In the mean time, most of the public assistance should continue to be given to the have-nots, who are mostly the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. This is the art of compromise.
By the way, there are advantages for being bi-racial. Many bi-racials have gotten ahead. In fact, Dr.Mahathir is bi-racial. Apparently his birth name is Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty. Please do go to website http://www.malaysianindian1.blogspot.com/ and read a posting entitled Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty @ Mahathir bin Mohamed. There is another posting in the same website to read entitled The Indian-Muslim opportunists in Umno
Yes, there are advantages for being bi-racial, and some of them have gotten ahead.
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