The StarBy Shaila Koshy
The Bar Council has a new drive – getting the man on the street to know the Federal Constitution and therefore their rights. The bigger the number who know their rights, the better their might to balance that of the state.
ALMOST every Malaysian who has grown up on a diet of Hollywood criminal law television series knows what “taking the 5th” in the United States’ Bill of Rights means.
POP quiz! What is Article 5 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution? Don’t know?
What about Article 8? Or Article 10? Article 11?
I could give you the bald version and call it the supreme law of the land, but that would be as inspiring as watching paint dry.
The most lyrical and inspirational description I have ever heard of the Constitution was said 20 years ago by UiTM’s Faculty of Law Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi at a media law seminar
He repeated it at the launch of his book Document of Destiny last year: “I hold up the Constitution as our document of destiny, our chart and compass, our sail and anchor, our armour of defence against the passions, prejudices and vicissitudes of politics.
Ignorance is not bliss: Syahredzan and Maha holding up an uncut copy of the first Rakyat Guide booklet that will be launched together with the MyConstitution Campaign on Nov 13.
“I view the Constitution not just as a lawyer’s document but also as the vehicle of a community’s legal, political and social life. It is the repository of the nation’s dreams and demands, its values and vulnerabilities.
“It provides a framework for managing our dazzling diversity. It seeks to reconcile the irreconcilable demands and expectations of the various racial and religious communities in a way that has few parallels in the modern world. It is the guardian of our rights and the source of our freedoms. It seeks to balance the might of the state with the rights of the citizens.
And now, every Malaysian has the opportunity to learn the Constitution. On Friday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong will launch the Bar Council’s “MyConstitution Campaign/Kempen PerlembagaanKu” in Kuala Lumpur.
The two-year campaign, billed “A Campaign for the Rakyat by the Rakyat”, is being driven by the council’s new Constitutional Law Committee (ConstiLC).
Embracing the philosophy of the Constitution being for everyone, the ConstiLC boasts 99 members, comprising students, academics, members of the media and non-governmental organisations, apart from lawyers from the peninsula as well as Sabah and Sarawak.
The ConstiLC, whose target group is 15- to 35-year-olds, has already met student groups to distribute the campaign material at public and private universities.
Their success in reaching people in the remote areas of Sabah and Sarawak will depend on their distribution and delivery system.
According to the committee’s co-deputy chairpersons Mahaletchumi Balakrishnan and Syahredzan Johan, the campaign is aimed at simplifying the Constitution so that all Malaysians will have access to its contents.
The campaign, which aims at reaching six million households in Malaysia, has a colourful logo depicting its name in Bahasa Malaysia and English and seven cartoon heads.
“The seven talking heads”, as Maha refers to them, started life as a ConstiLC member’s doodle of her working group members during a brainstorming session.
The brilliance of the “talking heads” is that one is unable to recognise any particular ethnic group from the features or colours.
They show the diversity of the people of Malaysia that the Constitution provides for, say Syah and Maha.
While a successful draw card, a logo won’t make the Constitution’s legalese easier to understand. So how can constitutional ideals and guarantees be presented so the man in the street can grasp them?
“For starters, we have simplified the language,” says Maha. “We have also broken it up into nine themes.”
They are: Introduction to the Supremacy of the Constitution; Institutions established by the Constitution & the Separation of Powers; Federal – State Relations; Rakyat: Citizenship & Fundamental Liberties; Elections & Democracy; Parliament/Legislature; Executive/Government; Judiciary/Courts; and Sabah & Sarawak.
And there will be a pocket-sized “Rakyat Guide” (RG) to explain each of the themes, says Syah, adding that the RG1 will be launched on Friday.
Maha explains that each RG is divided into three parts: with the help of the talking heads, the first sets out the relevant provisions in the Constitution, the second gives examples of how they affect a person’s life, and the final part deals with frequently asked questions.
The examples cover both rights and responsibilities and range from the serious to the funny:
> A citizen can vote upon reaching 21 years but is barred from doing so if he is serving a prison sentence;
> You think Kuching is the greatest city in Malaysia and should be the federal capital but the Constitution states that the honour lies with Kuala Lumpur, unless you can lobby Parliament to make the change!
> A child is automatically a citizen of Malaysia, even if born overseas, if the father is a Malaysian; and
> You live in Perlis but you back Pahang which has won the Malaysia Cup. The Pahang government declares the next day a state holiday but no matter how big a supporter you are, you cannot force the Perlis government to declare a holiday so you can celebrate!
Maha says there will also be Rakyat Service Announcements (RSA) for each theme.
“The first RSA will be screened on Friday. It’s almost like a vox pop where we ask people questions on the Constitution and they answer. It captures quite well the general answer.”
“And the RSAs correspond with the RG booklets,” says Syah, adding that they will be available online for download.
And if these are successful, the ConstiLC hopes to work with the Education Ministry to simplify the ideas for use in schools.
In the meantime, the committee is blitzing the cyber world as well. Information is already available at www.malaysianbar.org.my/constitutional_law_committee, www.twitter.com/MyConsti, www.facebook.com/MyConstitution, www.youtube.com/user/PerlembagaanKu and www.perlembagaanku.com (from Nov 13).
“The RG booklets will also be available online via PerlembagaanKu; Facebook; and Twitter.”
Malaysians need to claim the Constitution as their own. They don’t realise that the more the citizens who know the Constitution, the better their might to balance that of the state. So, while the first RG will put things into perspective for the public, Syah says, the meat is in RG2.
“It deals with constitutional institutions like the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary and what they are supposed to do.”
There have been some instances in our history when the three appeared to conveniently forget what their limitations are.
But last week, Parliament seemed to show some constitutional backbone; following the Auditor-General’s report, its Public Accounts Committee pushed enforcement authorities really hard this time to investigate and take action against those who have broken the law or are just plain inept.
The RG3 (Federal/State relations) especially will be of interest to the public following the March 8, 2008, general election results, says Maha.
“Before that, people didn’t really distinguish between the Federal and State governments because one coalition has been in power for so long.
“The people should have a general idea of what comes under the purview of each so that they know who to turn to or to hold responsible.”
Maha adds that the campaign includes forums in the style of conversations so “it would be more participatory than the usual – being talked at”.
The “Conversations with the Constitution” series kicked off successfully on Oct 29 with Anand Grover, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health.
The second in the series “What is the Federal Constitution?” takes place on Friday after the launch.
It should be exciting as the constitutional conversants on the bill are Prof Shad, International Islamic University’s Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari, Universiti Malaya’s Prof Azmi Sharom and senior lawyers Sulaiman Abdullah and Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.
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