Subra blames translation error for conversion bill tiff

MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam has blamed a translation error for the controversy surrounding the recently tabled conversion bill.

Speaking to the press this morning, he said the Malay version of the bill was not in line with the English version.

According to Subramaniam, the English version of the proposed amendment to Section 107(b) of the Administration of Islam (Federal Territories) Bill 2013 says the conversion of minors requires the consent of a 'parent or guardian'.

However, he said the Bahasa version translates the word 'parent' to 'ibu atau bapa' (mother or father).
“We are stuck with the Federal Court decision and the interpretation of Article 12(4) (of the federal constitution) that pertains to this,” he said.

The article, read with Article 160 and the Eleventh Schedule of the federal constitution, expressly provides that all words appearing in the federal constitution which are stated in one gender also include the other gender, and all words in the singular also include the plural.

“The bill is totally new. I think this part was not seen by them (BN component parties). When they tabled it and we saw that particularly Bahasa Malaysia translation was not in line with our current thinking.

“We voiced our views in the cabinet and at the moment we are seeing how we can resolve the issue,” he said.

Asked whether the MIC would vote against the bill in parliament, he said: “I don’t think it will reach that stage.”
When further pressed whether this means the bill would be retracted, he skirted the question by saying “there are many options for us” and one of the them is to amend the controversial part of the bill.

‘Lack of communication’

He also added that “most” members of the cabinet agreed there had to be a consensus on the issue.

“There needs to be protection to prevent the conversion of minors just because one parent decides to convert themselves and uses that as a tool to convert minors.”

He said the BN government had discussed about the issue in 2009 and had decided to amend the law, but since then faced some issues tabling the bill in parliament.

Asked why the latest bill contradicts the cabinet ruling in 2009, he said: “Maybe there was a lack of communication.”

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that the government would look into finding “a fair solution to the matter”, but also reiterated that the current amendment properly reflects the current situation.

There has been widespread criticism of the amendments within the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Bill from BN component parties MIC and MCA, with MCA urging its members to vote against the bill.

Last week the Malaysian Bar Council said that the use of the word ‘parent’ should mean plural as is in line with the constitution and that the current proposed amendment would be ‘unconstitutional’.