Kashmir’s 'mufti azam' summons Christian priest to explain alleged conversions

SRINAGAR: Mufti Bashir-ud-din - J&K's official " mufti azam", or head Muslim clergyman - issued fresh summons to a leading Christian priest, CM Khanna, on Friday, asking him to appear before his court to explain his activities of reported conversions of young local boys and girls at his church in Srinagar. Khanna said the mufti was annoyed with him because he had expressed his inability to help the mufti in the admission of a boy to a Christian missionary school.

Talking to TOI, Mufti Azaam Bashir-ud-din said: "Our shariat court had summoned the Christian priest, CM Khanna, to appear personally today at 11am but he failed to appear. Now we have issued fresh summons to him for personal appearance on November 12."

A shariat court has existed in J&K since the early 1960s; Mufti Bashir-ud-din is the judge of the court and the appeal against this court lies in the civil court. Mufti Bashir said that the court was recognized by the state government because of the majority Muslim character of the state. The shariat court, however, has no enforcing agency like police to implement its judgments, he said

Mufti Bashir-ud-din said: "I have received the complaint that the said priest, CM Khanna, is involved in converting young Muslim boys and girls to Christianity. This warrants action as per Islamic law. So we summoned him to appear before the shariat court to explain his position."

The mufti claimed to possess a video cassette purportedly showing Reverend Khanna urging young Kashmiri Muslims to embrace Christianity and asking them to take a dip in a pond inside the church near the cricket stadium in Srinagar.

"I will take all necessary measures in exercise of the powers vested in me by Islamic shariat," the mufti said when asked what course he would take if the priest failed to appear in his court.

"It is a matter of grave concern that Christian missionaries active here should be running an organized and integrated campaign to convert young Kashmiri Muslims to Christianity," he said.

When contacted, CM Khanna said : "I am an officiating priest at the Srinagar church and Mufti Bashir-ud-din last fortnight asked me to help him in getting admission to some boy in a Christian school called Tyndale Biscoe school, but I told him that the school was not under my control and he had better approach the principal of the school. He was annoyed over the issue."

Khanna said that he had not received any summons and the allegations levelled against him were false and concocted. "I am at present out of state," Khanna told TOI on the phone.

MTUC warns Najib labour law battle will go on to polls

MTUC members protest amendments to the Employment Act, outside Parliament
 in Kuala Lumpur, October 3, 2011. — Picture by Choo Choy May

SUBANG JAYA, Oct 28 — The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) warned Datuk Seri Najib Razak today that the votes of 5.7 million workers “could decide matters” on polling day unless labour law changes that could affect job security and workers’ rights are withdrawn.

The umbrella body, which comprises 390 of the 692 labour unions and a total of 802,323 members, said in a press conference today that “we are non-partisan, but our battle will have to go on” against amendments to the Employment Act passed on October 6 which it has called “a return to slavery.”

“We call on the prime minister to hear our calls that have become shouts and screams on behalf of 5.7 million voters. There are 5.7 million workers who are registered workers. That is our signal to him,” general secretary Abdul Halim Mansor told reporters today.

The MTUC affirmed today that its nationwide picket in at least 20 locations on November 3 continues “an ongoing action” against legislation that it says will “green light investors to hire Malaysians as contract workers instead of permanent staff.”

It said this will encourage companies to outsource more of labour requirements, handing over responsibility over rights and benefits such as social security and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions to third-party contractors who “can escape easily when business goes bad.”

The MTUC had first protested the amendments on October 3, drawing hundreds of workers to the gates of Parliament.

Najib tabled his Budget 2012 proposals earlier this month that provided cash handouts and an extra one per cent employers’ contribution to the pension fund for those earning up to RM5,000 a month, which covers most of MTUC’s members.

His government has also promised to implement a minimum wage policy by end-2011 but Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have already pledged a national minimum of RM1,100 and support for the union’s protest against labour law changes.

Najib is expected to hold a general election soon, after announcing RM4.5 billion in direct assistance to citizens and pay hikes for some 1.3 million civil servants for next year’s Budget.

Winning the mind, not the heart

A business leader says that Barisan Nasional must not take the Indian community for another ride, and calls for concrete steps to be initiated.

KUALA LUMPUR: The mammoth turnout for the Deepavali open house in Batu Caves has been trumpeted as another sign of the Indian community’s support returning for the ruling coalition under the stewardship of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

In the last general election, Indian voters, whose support for BN remained unwavering till then, cast their ballots for the opposition, leaving the coalition with a bloodied nose.

Upon assuming office in the following year, Najib embarked on a quest to win back the heart and mind of the Indian electorate.

While a spate of by-elections revealed that his efforts to woo Chinese votes yielded little, if no success, the voting trend in the same by-elections appears to be encouraging as far as Indian support is concerned.

Indian leaders in MIC and other pro-BN organisations have lauded Najib for his willingness to elevate the socio-economic standard of the community.

However, a seasoned political observer and business leader noted that the prime minister is winning over the minds with mere cosmetic changes and fanfares but has yet to make inroads into the hearts of the Indians.

Politician or statesman?

According to Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba) president P Sivakumar, Najib must make an important decision.

He must decide between being another run-of-the mill politician churning out “quick-fixes” to win votes and a statesman who will initiate genuine reforms to uplift a community that has been, in the words of MIC president G Palanivel himself, marginalised for decades.

“Spending millions on Deepavali bashes, fancy billboards and holding concerts will not benefit the community. We must journey beyond such superficial efforts to remedy the malaise,” he told FMT.

“BN should not take the Indian community for another ride,” he stressed, showering criticism on the community’s leaders who are willing accomplices in this plot.

The community leaders who help the ruling coalition perpetuate the oppression of the Indian community, he added, are committing a cardinal sin.

“This is because they are digging the graves of the future generation even before the dust has settled on the graves of the older generation,” he said.

GLC ads meaningless

Commenting on the Deepavali advertisements by government-linked companies, Sivakumar said it would have been more meaningful if Najib had announced that a certain percentage of employment opportunities or business contracts have been set aside for the Indians in GLCs such as Petronas and Pos Malaysia.

“For years, these companies only display their ‘all-encompassing’ attitude in advertisements during the festive season but the reality on the ground is starkly different.

“Are we as Malaysian citizens whose forefathers’ sweat and toil contributed immensely towards the progress of this nation, asking for too much?” he added.

Acknowledging that Indian support is growing for BN, the Miba president warned that the urban middle class and more educated Indian voters remain unconvinced and the government should not make the mistake of resting on its laurels thinking that all is well.

“These voters want to see significant changes and not dancers prancing on the stage. They are not interested in being paid to attend functions or a free lunch. If the government fails to deliver the goods, they will not deliver the votes. It’s as simple as that,” he added.

He said these voters want a just, equitable, transparent and accountable government which respects fundamental human rights.

Learn from Singapore

The Johor-based businessman said that the Malaysian government should learn from its counterpart across the causeway with regard to uplifting minority groups.

“Even the other day, I was having a chat with an elderly Singaporean gentlemen and he was telling me how in the early years, the Indians in the republic experienced similar social ills.

“But with the right policies and actions, the Singaporean government empowered the Indians there both economically and academically. Look at them today… compare them to us,” he said.

Sivakumar also took a swipe at the mindset of the civil service here, saying that it is still trapped in a dungeon of discrimination.

If Najib’s 1Malaysia concept is to be successful, he said, the rot in the civil service must be fixed first and those in government positions should stop considering the non-Malays as immigrants.

“Only then can we have an effective delivery system,” he added.

The Miba president also criticised Najib and Indian leaders for nurturing divisiveness through the caste system instead of uniting the community similar to Singapore.

“Why must the prime minister attend this and that caste function. This is a disease that has paralysed the Indian community for a long time and it should not be allowed to continue.

“I am aware that there are those who feel strongly about this issue but the hard truth is that the caste system will only impede our march forward. So let’s progress and not regress,” he said.

Proxy war in the battle of three PMs

Lim Kit Siang says that Najib's credibility rests on his human rights stand at CHOGM.

PETALING JAYA: DAP adviser, Lim Kit Siang, today questioned whether the twin warnings by former Inspector-General of Police, Rahim Noor, and former premier, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, on human rights in Malaysia was in fact “an open proxy shot in a battle of three prime ministers”.

Rahim had likened the rise of human rights movements to communism during Perkasa’s general assembly on Wednesday.

His statement sparked outrage among various human rights groups but won endorsement from Mahathir who warned that human rights was being used for political benefit by the opposition.

In his latest blog post, Lim noted the uncanny timing of both warnings with the opening of the CHOGM today, which will consider a report of an 11-member Eminent Persons Group (EPG).

The report contains reform proposals to end its organisational “decay” and avoid the Commonwealth being condemned as “hypocritical” for allowing rogue member states to violate human rights and democratic conventions.

Lim said that the EPG report includes 106 recommendations including the appointment of an independent Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights commissioner empowered to monitor violations and propose action against rogue states.

“And heading the EPG is none other than our fifth prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,” he pointed out.

“Were the warnings by Mahathir and Rahim a warning to Najib not to support Abdullah’s EPG proposals in improving the Commonwealth’s response to human rights violations?”

Poor analysis

The Ipoh Timur MP further queried whether Najib would now endorse Abdullah and the EPG proposals or buckle under pressure by Mahathir and Rahim to shield rogue Commonwealth countries from scrutiny and censure.

“The stand Najib takes in Perth will be a clear indication as to whether his promises of democratisation and political transformation have any credibility,” he said.

The EPG report had also warned that it was time for the Perth CHOGM to authorise the urgent reform it recommends and to mandate a concrete implementation plan.

It further emphasised that “there may not be another chance to renew, reinvigorate and revitalise the Commonwealth to make it relevant to its times and people in the future”.

“Najib should take serious note of this warning as it is of equal pertinence to him as to the relevance of his premiership and Umno-BN rule to the people and country of Malaysia,” Lim said.

“Will Najib prove to be unequal not only to the task of Commonwealth reform but also to the challenge of reform and national transformation of Malaysia?”

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), meanwhile, expressed incredulity that both Mahathir and Rahim appeared to be getting away with their “absurd and irresponsible” statements.

In a media release this afternoon, LFL remarked that Rahim’s statement came as no surprise seeing as he was guilty of widespread human rights abuses during his tenure as IGP.

“Nobody in their right mind can fathom his poor analysis in trying to dismiss human rights as a communism-like wave,” it said.

“Mahathir was another blatant violator of human rights during his tenure as prime minister. One clear example is the mass arrests during Ops Lalang and police brutality during the early years of reformasi.”

LFL pointed out that the attitude of  BN governments since independence is that  human rights advocates and activists are mere pests who should be disregarded and  persecuted.

“In taking this position they are absolutely wrong and failing in their duty to the rakyat,” it concluded.

India's Congress Party and Corruption

Manmohan Singh, looking unhappy

Sniping at anti-corruption crusaders won’t save them

A sustained campaign of sniping at the leaders of the anti-corruption movement by senior members of India’s Congress Party speaks of policy confusion and lack of leadership. What is it designed to achieve?

Two members of corruption protest activist Anna Hazare's campaign team -- Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal -- were found to have allegedly fiddled expenses and diverting donations . That gave the Congress Party opportunity to ridicule the anti-corruption campaigners.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, another key member of Hazare’s team, delivered the opinion that people of Kashmir should decide whether they wished to stay in India, be independent or switch to Pakistan. That is a 'sacred-cow' issue with most Indians. He was assaulted in his office by thugs believed to be members of an extreme Hindu fundamentalist organization.

Thus Team Anna are on the back foot and divided. But that doesn’t absolve the Congress Party of accountability for corruption in government. A corrupt government smearing anti-corruption campaigners does not win it sympathy from a public fed up with civil servants and politicians who abuse their positions.

Manmohan Singh, a weak prime minister out-maneuvered by powerful political warlords, signals administrative dysfunction to voters. There is no one in the driver's seat. This is a lame-duck government that will in all likelihood be turfed out at the next general election.

Corruption works for everyone except the dispossessed. The victims of India's systemic corruption are the powerless masses who can't get relief from policemen, government clerks or elected representatives with their hands out for bribes. The middle classes are annoyed that they have to grease palms at every turn. The rich leverage it to bend the system to their benefit.

State legislators and parliamentarians see election to the government as their ticket to amassing wealth by exerting influence on government contracts. Corruption works for everyone except the dispossessed. So what incentive is there for Parliament to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, also known as the citizens’ ombudsman will, which seeks to pass restrictive laws dealing with political corruption?

None. About 25 percent of sitting parliamentarians are convicted of crimes or pending charges. A larger proportion manage to benefit without legal trace. Indian 'black money' estimated at more than US$1.4 trillion is stashed in Swiss banks. It has been estimated that up to 40 percent of India’s gross domestic product disappears from the economy, stolen by politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats. The last thing India's political class wants is public scrutiny of its methods of enrichment from public finances.

Thanks to the Right to Information Act which was forced on the government in 2005 by an earlier public campaign, activists can request sight of documents, memos and contracts which were previously inaccessible. That data can be quickly distributed through social networks to name and shame the guilty. The politicians deeply regret passing the information act. Manmohan Singh recently floated a trial balloon saying the RTI needs to be reviewed as it inhibits civil servants from appending notes and comments to proposed bills and projects and that it slows down the normal functioning of government.

That brought a torrent of protest from social activists, amply magnified through TV talk shows and press commentary.

Taking lessons from the effect of the information act, the political class is in no rush to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill despite lobbying by Anna Hazare which has brought thousands to the streets. It is a severe tool designed to rid India of its Neta-Babu (bureaucrat-politician) nexus through swift justice meted out by a citizen's Ombudsman and his avenging angels. It gives corrupt judges, ministers, civil servants and legislators little legal privilege. It is punitive and extreme to a political class used to distorting legal process to escape responsibility.

Election risk 

Anna Hazare has warned that if a strong Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed into law by the winter session of parliament, he will tour all the states where by-elections are due and re-ignite public anger against Congress Party candidates. That is no idle threat.

The public fury that was triggered across the nation by Anna Hazare's fast in August has not gone away. India's voters are restive. And the game has gone well past the stage for the government to invoke security as a cover to lock him up.

Congress Party strategists are toying with the parliamentary process and legal punditry to water down the Lokpal bill and starve budget allocations for the ambitious central and state anti-corruption machinery. By a clever combination of toothless legislation and budgetary under-provision, politicians of all parties hope to escape dismissal, seizure of assets and jail.

After all, what’s the point of getting elected if you cannot leverage your position to become a millionaire?

(Cyril Pereira is a senior journalist who comments regularly on Asian affairs.)

I’m 25, Malaysian. Should I give up on Malaysia?

by Alex Lee
Friday, 28 October 2011

My recent trip back to Malaysia made me realise the lack of political awareness in the country. Business owners, working individuals, family and friends have virtually given up trying, or simply not want to court unnecessary trouble. They continue to complain of our government’s incompetence. But simply complaining will take us nowhere.

Only abusers and authoritarians, who do not want to hear the truth and how we feel want us to be silent, allowing them to continue squandering our nation’s coffers and they be left unpunished. Countless loopholes in the legislations are making the rich even richer, and the poor to continue to suffer.

A simple example is the real estate situation in Malaysia. Housing has become impossible for new starters to own, with the unaffordability standards at an all-time high. Yet, the rich are still able to continue reaping gains from the market, inflating prices, causing houses to be even more and more unaffordable. In the rural areas, people are struggling to access basic needs such as water and electricity, not to mention basic healthcare.

Malaysia has an incredible pool of talent, and I would attest to that, having gone to school with many of them. Unfortunately there has been a continuous brain drain from our country; and these are intellectuals with tertiary-level education. The outflow of talent has not been matched with equal and compatible inflow, thus damaging the quality of Malaysia’s narrow skills base.

54% of the brain drain can be traced to Singapore, 15% to Australia, 10% to the US, and 5% to the UK, resulting in Malaysia’s economic growth rate to fall to an average of 5% pa. Major push factors include corruption, social inequality and lack of academic freedom.

Malaysia is now at a unique moment in its history. For the first time, there’s a broad realisation that the country must move in a new direction.

Malaysia is fortunate to have some great political leaders, who have made huge sacrifices, and facing countless allegations, are still standing strong to fight another day for our country. They have shown us the way and given us hope to introduce the true essence of a democracy.

We are on the verge of being able to make a great change to our country in the next coming election, but will it be possible without the support from all of us?

Is it important for Malaysians to realise that each of us have a role to play in creating a Malaysia we can be proud of? We live in Malaysia, and we love Malaysia. Malaysia has so much potential, and so much unique diversity that if we are able to deal with all the grouses and discontent that people speak about, we would be a world-class country.

But we must act. Our communities must be transformed and become independent, action communities that perhaps one day there is no need or a reduced need for us to rely on politicians. We need to build a non-partisan, issue-based, youth-driven, community-centred platform to promote greater ownership, participation and seek workable solutions to problems that affect our communities.

We need to learn how to ask the right questions and make more informed choices in our daily lives. We need to have more control more of over our well-being rather than having “top-down” policies implemented on us without our consent, tacit or otherwise.

Most of all, we need to claim our civil space for otherwise, ruthless, manipulative, racist elements will claim that space for us.

By that time, the damage will be too deeply embedded to allow any rescindable change. The time is now. We need to activate all Malaysians to drive our agenda for a better Malaysia.

Let us all unite and work towards creating a society with integrity.

Quarrying threatens India's farmlands

India's rapidly expanding economy has created a growing demand for building materials.

The stone mining industry has become a large and lucrative business, but corruption and a lack of transparency have had a damaging effect on the environment.

Al Jazeera's Nilanjan Chowdry reports from the western state of Rajasthan.

Malaysia's minorities fear Islamic law changes

Malays could face harsher punishments for offences than those of other faiths in their country

Malaysia's Islamic party is pressing for more areas of law to be dealt with under an Islamic legal code, causing concerns among religious minorities, despite reassurances they would not be affected.

There are two Malaysias. One for the Muslim majority - the other for Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and non-Muslims.
For example, Malays do not have the freedom to choose their religion. It is written in the constitution that all ethnic Malays must, by definition, be Muslim.

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The punishments they want would include, among other things, cutting off the hands of thieves and stoning adulterers to death”

At the same time, other ethnic groups are allowed to worship freely.

Political leaders would have you believe that these two Malaysias barely interact, and therefore do not conflict.
It is true in some cases - but not in others.
Islamic police Take my gay friend for example. On a few occasions, I have invited him to my place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon cooking and watching some bad reality TV shows.
What I did not realise was that my innocent invitations could get him arrested.
He is a Malay and, as a Muslim, he is subject to Islamic law which does not allow couples who are not married to each other to be in a secluded area together.

Tan Cheow Hong is fighting to get custody of his daughter

That way nothing "immoral" can happen, and the offence of so-called close proximity is avoided.
My friend is constantly worried that the security guards at my apartment block would call the Islamic police on him.
The fact that he is gay would not absolve him since homosexuality is also a crime in Islam.
I, on the other hand, would not be arrested because I am a Christian, and Islamic law does not apply to non-Muslims. We are only subject to Malaysian civil law.
So whenever the topic of Islamic law comes up, religious officials working for local and national government are always quick to point out that non-Muslims would not be affected by it in any case.
This is the argument that the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic party - or PAS - has used to call for the expansion of Islamic law in recent weeks.
At present, if you are Muslim, all issues regarding family and faith are dealt with in Islamic courts.
But PAS officials say they want Islamic law to cover criminal offences as well.
The punishments they want would include, among other things, cutting off the hands of thieves and stoning adulterers to death.
The party insists the move would not affect non-Muslims. That promise, however, is no longer reassuring for Malaysia's religious minorities.
Some feel Islamic law is already encroaching on their rights.
Child custody

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If Islamic authorities can snatch our children away, convert them, and decide on custody issues - all without the knowledge or presence of the other parent - then what rights do we as non-Muslims have?”

Tan Cheow Hong

It is a problem that Tan Cheow Hong, a Buddhist, never thought he would run up against.

He and his wife had married according to civil law. They later separated and he took care of their daughter.
This arrangement carried on for a few years until his estranged wife showed up last November at their child's school with Islamic officials and police in tow.
His wife had become a Muslim and obtained an Islamic court order to take their daughter back. The next day she had the child declared a Muslim as well, and was granted full guardianship of their daughter under Islamic law.
Mr Tan says all of this was done behind his back. He has accused his wife of converting to Islam so that she would gain custody of their child.
Some say they suspect Islamic courts would automatically favour any Muslim parent. Mr Tan is now fighting the decision through the civil law system.
His wife has refused to comment, but her lawyers say that as a Muslim she had every right to go to the Islamic court.
Dual courts
Mr Tan's story is not unique.
There are dozens of similar cases where disgruntled spouses are believed to be exploiting the country's dual court systems.
Their stories have sowed a feeling of distrust among religious minorities.
"If Islamic authorities can snatch our children away, convert them, and decide on custody issues - all without the knowledge or presence of the other parent - then what rights do we as non-Muslims have?" said Mr Tan.

Tan Cheow Hong is fighting to get custody of his daughter

The federal court does not have a clear answer for him - at least not yet. Many families before him with similar cases have been told to go back to the Islamic court even though it supposedly has no jurisdiction over non-Muslims.
In the face of rising Islamisation, legal scholars say politicians and judges here are unwilling to resolve the issue for fear they will be seen as anti-Islam.
And the issue of justice might become even more complex if the proposed Islamic criminal code were introduced.
Zainah Anwar, a prominent Muslim rights activist, poses this scenario in a recent newspaper column.
Suppose a Malay and Chinese were both caught stealing.
The Malay-Muslim might get his hands chopped off, while his Chinese accomplice might only be locked up for a few months in jail.
For the same crime only one person would be permanently disabled - because of their religion.
It may seem idle to debate Islamic criminal law in Malaysia. There are still many legal hurdles to overcome before it can be enforced.
Yet this time around, non-Muslims are alarmed.
This may be a country that prides itself on its multi-religious and multi-ethnic harmony - but what happens in Muslim Malaysia is not always confined to the followers of Islam - and non-Muslims are feeling exposed.

The Mad Scramble For The Indian Vote

Politicians cannot help but politicise the greeting that accompanies every festival. Deepavali is no different.
What happened to sincere, straightforward greetings without the need for one party to say that they have down more for the Indian than any other party?
The general election is imminent and both the ruling party and the opposition are in untenable positions. Umno and Pakatan know that they cannot win the election on their own. The Malay vote is split, the Chinese will probably vote for the opposition and that leaves the Indians.
So, the party which successfully courts the Indian vote, will undoubtedly be in a stronger position.
In his address on the eve of Deepavali, G. Palanivel, the MIC president, told the Indian community that the government ‘was listening’ and would ‘assist them in the transformation process’.
Palanivel who also holds the post as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, also said that Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had helped the Indian community in their many requests.
He said, “The government has extended much assistance to date where some have been implemented and others will be put in place soon.
“I am confident that the Indian community is on the right track and will continue to progress if they stay united”.
This is a clear indication that he is aware that Hindraf is able to unify and mobilise the Indian community.
He warned against stirring up dissent in sensitive matters and said that it was important to preserve racial harmony.
Palanivel urged Indians to adopt the spirit of 1Malaysia to contribute to a successful nation. He also said that the community had much to look forward to with the introduction and implementation of projects in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and Government Transformation Programme GTP).
He said, “These programmes are inclusive and the Indians will be able to tap into the programmes to raise their socio-economic standing”.
Unsurpisingly, Najib’s Deepavali address which was posted on his blog 1Malaysia.com.my, was no less grand.
Najib said that this year’s Deepavali celebration would be “all the more special” because Malaysia was beginning to see the end result of the country’s national transformation efforts (NTE).
He wrote: “The special initiatives that we have undertaken over the last two years are yielding results that have a real and positive impact on Indian families and individuals.
“This has given us the confidence to further strengthen and widen our efforts so that we may reach all who need us”.
Najib told the Indian community that his government would include direct initiatives to increase their incomes and that he would attempt to increase the full business prowess of the Indian community.
He urged professionals, high profile personalities and community leaders to help him change the lives of the Indians for the better and also work towards national transformation.
He said, “Without the full commitment and support of each group, we will simply not achieve our collective ambitions for Malaysia.”
Meanwhile, in her Deepavali message, Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, the president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, also invoked Indian sentiments when she illustrated the Indian community’s poor economic status and low social standing.
She stressed that her party was not going to allow the Indian community to languish and made reference to the ills that afflicted the Indian youth and the disappearance of billions of ringgits worth of shares which had been allocated to the Indian communities.
Despite the grand talk and deeply politicised Deepavali wishes by all parties, it is evident that BN and the opposition are worried.
The reason is obvious. It is the new-kid-on-the-block, the Hindraf party.
Hindraf has energised the Indian community and given it a new lease of life.
The Hindraf leadership under the pro-tem secretary-general P. Uthayakumar and his brother, the Hindraf leader-in-exile, P. Waythamoorthy, have told Indians that they, too have rights and cannot be pushed around like a political football anymore.
As a result, the Indian voter is more astute than ever and is at liberty to vote with his head, and not his heart. Nor be subject to the coercion of the Jack-boot of the MIC thug.
In the 2008 general election, the teamwork of Pakatan and Hindraf was one of the contributory factors to Pakatan’s success.
However, in the years that followed, Hindraf claimed that Pakatan failed to focus on solving the problems experienced by the Indian community and the Pakatan-Hindraf relationship subsequently disintegrated.
Uthayakumar said: “In the last general election, we gave Pakatan a chance where for the first time BN lost its two-third parliament majority and lost control of five states.”
Nonetheless, the word on the ground is that Indians need not bother with politics or politicians: “Why should we care? They (the politicians) only come and see us in the days before the election with presents, makan and money. We might as well be invisible the rest of the time,” said one labourer from Sungei Siput.
For the past four years, he has been submitting forms to the welfare office for financial help, with the help of an MIC official. But he alleges that his application had always been rejected, until a few months ago.
His children can now go to school, his disabled mother and child can also receive disability benefits and four of his children who did not have birth certificates have now been provided with the necessary papers. This year too, he was rewarded with a hamper, which he claimed had never happened before.
This voter is happy that MIC has finally helped him and he claims that he is aware that the help probably materialised because of the impending GE-13.
Nevertheless, he thinks that MIC’s help is just a bribe and he will vote for the opposition, at GE-13.
With Prime minister Najib tight-lipped about the date of GE-13, it remains to be seen which party will successfully court the Indian vote.

MARIAM MOKHTAR

Court discharges PSM 6 from subversion, illegal assembly case

The PSM 6 on the night of their surprise release from detention in July. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar and five other Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members were today given a discharge not amounting to acquittal for allegedly owning subversive papers and gathering illegally ahead of the Bersih rally that took place on July 9.

Dr Jeyakumar told reporters of his relief over the Sessions Court ruling in Butterworth.

He said the PSM 6 would try to meet with the Home Ministry for an explanation over the offences which they allegedly committed before the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally.

On September 19, police dropped all charges against 30 PSM activists arrested for waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, including the six who were also detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO).

This came just days after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced reforms to security and press laws, including the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the lifting of three Emergency Declarations.

In place of the ISA, Najib had announced the drafting of two new laws to curb terrorism in the country, much like the Patriot Act in the US, which was enacted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Police detained the 30 PSM activists in Penang during the party’s “Udahlah Bersara” campaign and their arrests were later said to be linked to the government’s pre-Bersih rally clampdown.

They were then accused of attempting to revive communism and wage war against the King when T-shirts with the images of Marxist revolutionary leader Che Guevara and Malayan communist figures were found in their possession.

Six key activists, or the “EO6”, including Dr Jeyakumar, were later imprisoned for 28 days under the EO, which allows for detention without trial for up to 60 days.

Curb ‘fascist’ Perkasa, Rahim Noor, Pakatan MPs tell Najib

File photo of Rahim (left) and Ibrahim raising a giant keris at the Perkasa annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2011. — Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The federal opposition has called Perkasa and Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor “fascist monsters” after the former top cop likened the rise of human rights movements to communism during the Malay rights group’s general assembly on Wednesday.


Pakatan Rayat (PR) lawmakers said today that Datuk Seri Najib Razak “must immediately put a stop to this fascism movement and openly condemn the former IGP and Perkasa... if he is sincere about his political transformation programme.”

“The latest attacks against the human rights movement is clearly an attempt to reverse Najib’s capitulation to civil society movements such as Bersih,” said DAP publicity chief Tony Pua, referring to the electoral reform movement which saw tens of thousands take to the streets of the capital on July 9.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said Perkasa, comprising many hardliners from Umno, opposed the prime minister’s parliamentary select committee to improve the electoral system and a raft of reforms that include the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar also told The Malaysian Insider that “the tragedy lies not in Rahim Noor’s archaic, irrelevant and misguided views, but in the fact there remain organisations that prop up and bring new life to such monsters.”

The Lembah Pantai MP also accused Perkasa and the former IGP of “a hidden, dangerous agenda... an affront to common sense and should be rejected by all peace loving Malaysians.”

Nurul Izzah said Perkasa and Rahim had ‘a hidden, dangerous agenda’. — File pic

Abdul Rahim, who resigned from the police force in1999 after confessing to assaulting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when the former deputy prime minister was under custody over sodomy charges, had called the “human rights wave” a “new religion” that would lead to Malaysia’s social contract being questioned.


The former IGP warned that civil liberty activists saw the US and the UK as their spiritual home, and drew parallels to how the Comintern had engineered the global spread of communism from its Moscow base.

Bersih went ahead with its July 9 demonstration in defiance of a government ban and police action. Nearly 1,700 were arrested, scores injured and one ex-soldier died during the rally.

A coalition of Muslim NGOs also organised a rally last week to stand up to the “challenge of Christianisation” after repeated allegations of proselytisation levelled against the church.

Pua also warned that Abdul Rahim’s speech at the Perkasa assembly was not the first time “the movement is attempting to derail ‘reforms’ put forth by the prime minister.”

He accused Perkasa of forcing Najib to reverse his landmark New Economic Model (NEM) which sought to reform the country’s race-based affirmative action system.

“Within three months from the launch of the NEM, the affirmative action policy reform was reversed when the 10th Malaysia Plan re-incorporated the race-based agenda and quota system.

“At the earlier Malay Consultative Council (MPM) led by Perkasa in May 2010, the prime minister referred to the NEM as a ‘trial balloon’,” Pua said.

Barking up the wrong tree for Malay unity

Umno began digging its grave when it allowed Mahathir to refashion it as Umno Baru.
COMMENT

Umno, from time to time, beats the drums of war on “political unity”, one of the sacred cows in things Malay. Witness the call for PAS-Umno unity talks and a myriad other stage-managed events since 2008, including, at one time, stomping on a cow’s head to rile the Hindus.

Nowadays, these drumbeats are more a ventilation of the Umno activists’ ignorance of their party’s history, which began with the anti-Malayan Union movement in 1946, although the spiritual roots go further back in the concept of Malay nationalism first espoused by the Jawi Peranakan.

The Jawi Peranakan were the Singapore-born offspring of immigrant Muslims, many of whom came from Kerala, India (see William Roff’s “Origins of Malay Nationalism”).

All nationalisms are defined by what they oppose. Indian nationalism, for example, opposed the idea of the British continuing to rule over large parts of the sub-continent.

Malay nationalism, meant to draw together the Muslims in Malaya and Singapore into a political movement, harped on the economic weakness of the Muslims vis-à-vis the local Chinese.

Malay nationalism eventually saw the departure of the British from Malaya and Singapore, the regaining of independence, and the birth of Malaysia with the coming together of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak in a greater federation.

Subsequently, Malay nationalism saw the expulsion of Chinese-dominated Singapore from Malaysia for being the thorn in Malay economic and political aspirations, the death of the 1963 Malaysia and Malay re-colonisation in 1965 of Dusun Sabah and Dayak Sarawak, the birth of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the deviations in the implementation of Articles 3, 152 and 153 of the Federal Constitution. The distortion of the constitution led, ultimately, to a backlash from the Indian underclass in 2007, spearheaded by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi.

Malay nationalism is dead in the wake of that backlash. The new nationalism in Malaysia is that of the Dusun and Dayak against Malay neo-colonialism.

It is no longer possible for Malay nationalists to continue to harp on the so-called economic weakness of their community or project the Chinese as the bogeyman to foster Malay political unity under one platform, the platform of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Umno Baru.

The Chinese, on their part, have more than a few issues to pick with the Malay nationalists for the manner in which they have been running the country since independence.

So, is it any wonder that the so-called Malay nationalists are looking for new imaginary foes?

Himpun failure

The Himpun call for a gathering of one million of the faithful is a case in point of Malay nationalism trying to reinvent itself for the 21st century.

The police, clearly “racist to the core” as more than one commentator has observed, bent over backwards and indeed fell all over themselves in approving the permit for the gathering in record time. Their rationale: “The gathering presented no security threat” and moreover would be confined to a stadium. It is difficult to fathom how the police define “threats to national security”.

The Himpun organisers, who claim a membership of four million members, could only muster between 4,000 and 5,000 people. In stark contrast, the old Umno had the total, undivided, unanimous support of Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia and, at one time, in Singapore.

Umno has lost its moorings on the concept of Malay unity, the Himpun gathering being the latest illustration after the hoo-hah over the Bible being in Malay print and Christians calling out to Allah.

The blame for that loss must lie with Mahathir, who stage-managed the court declaration that Umno was unlawful. Had the court discounted the illegal votes of the 30-odd unlawful branches in the 1987 Umno presidential election, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah would have won hands down against Mahathir.

The declaration allowed Mahathir to bury the Umno of the anti-Malayan Union movement (and Malay nationalism with it) and initiate the offshoot Umno Baru based on his own perceptions and aimed at fostering dynastic politics, that is, the rotation of political power among a few “Malay” families of Indian, Bugis and other origins. Mahathir also buried his arch enemy Tengku Razaleigh by keeping him and his supporters out of Umno Baru.

To mask the dynastic politics, Umno Baru has since dropped the word “Baru” and claims to be the same party formed by Onn Jaafar at the palace in Johor.

The old Umno, to reiterate, was a mass-based democratic movement, a coming together of several thousand Malay associations.

This is not something that the present elitist Umno sponsored by Mahathir can claim.

Hence, the disconnect in Malay politics that continues to bedevil the community and gives space to PKR and PAS. The latter is a party of Islamists or fundamentalists who broke away from the old Umno shortly after its formation.

Mahathir’s Umno is clearly in its death throes, as illustrated by the continuing estrangement with the breakaway PAS, the timing and manner of the departure of Anwar Ibrahim (now the de facto PKR leader), the alienation of the Ghafar Baba family which contributed so much to Malay nationalism, the alienation of Tengku Razaleigh, the alienation of the Malay rulers and, in general, the alienation of the Malay masses.

Mahathir’s Umno is dying also because of the raging corruption that has driven up the cost of doing business, alienated investors and the Chinese business community, continues to keep the rural masses down through the dependency syndrome and brought the once docile Indian underclass out onto the streets.

Above all, Mahathir’s Umno is dying because the Malays cannot reconcile themselves with the death of the old Umno at his hands.

Again, Mahathir’s Umno is headed for the dustbin of history because Malay nationalism is dead and this is something no number of Himpuns and Christian-baiting can mask.

I am Malay, and you better not forget it

So I whack the Malays. I whack them because foreigners think that the Malays are a joke. I am angry with these foreigners. I feel insulted that they say these things about the Malays. I am also Malay. So when they run down the Malays they are also running me down.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My Malay friends ask me why is it I am very harsh towards the Malays. I am Malay. So why am I cruel towards the Malays? Well, it is because I am Malay that I am cruel. If I am not Malay then I would not be bothered about the Malays.

Do I criticise the Arabs? I have been to Mekah ten times in my life so I know the Arabs very well even if I don’t live in their country. I know what the Arabs are like. They too are Muslims like me. In fact, Mekah is the centre of Islam. So why don’t I also whack the Arabs?

That’s because I don’t care about the Arabs. I do not have nice things to say about the Arabs. So better that I don’t say anything because anything that I would say would be far from complementary. I am not Arab so the Arabs can make fools of themselves for all I care. And they do make fools of themselves.

But when the Malays make fools of themselves I do care. And that is why I am very uncompromising towards the Malays. I care that the Malays make fools of themselves.

I regard it as my right to whack the Malays. Malays have every right to whack the Malays. But I don’t take kindly to the Chinese and Indians whacking the Malays. Malays can whack Malays. But when the Chinese and Indians whack the Malays I will whack them back. I will not let them get away with it.

Okay, I am not a thoroughbred Malay. I am only part-Malay. Only my father is Malay. My mother is Welsh. But then who is a thoroughbred Malay? Most Malays are of mixed blood. The only thing is that my blood is mixed with Welsh blood, not with Javanese, Sumatran, Siamese, Minangkabau, Acheh, Indian, Chinese, etc., blood.

So what if my blood is mixed with Caucasian blood and not with Javanese, Sumatran, Siamese, Minangkabau, Acheh, Indian, Chinese, etc., blood? Mixed blood is mixed blood. Whether it is Asian-European or Asian-Asian, it is still mixed blood.

In fact, my great grandmother was Orang Asli. Her name was Hasnah Binti Pelong. She was the second wife of Sultan Ala'Eddin Suleiman Shah, the Fifth Sultan of Selangor.

Sultan Suleiman was Bugis. So that, in fact, makes me more Malay than many Malays in Malaysia in spite of my Welsh blood. I have Orang Asli blood in me. I have more right to Malaysia than millions of other pendatang Malays who invaded my country and now claim it as their own.

Bumiputera konon! Hello brader. We Orang Asli were here first. So don’t try to play that who is more Malay game with me. You will lose.

I interact with Japanese, Koreans, Americans, British, French, Germans, Indonesians, Thais, Singaporeans, Filipinos, and people from many other countries. Somehow they don’t see me as Malay. Maybe it is because of how I look. So they talk to me. They tell me a lot. They tell me what they think. And they think very poorly of the Malays.

These foreigners tell me that the only reason they employ Malays is because of the requirements of the New Economic Policy. If not for that they would not employ Malays. They said they could employ one Chinese for three Malays they employ. One Chinese can do the job of three Malays.

They think Malays are lazy. They think Malays are very slow. They think Malays lack initiative. They think Malays lack grey matter.

There I sit listening to foreign investors and managers running down the Malays while forgetting that I am also Malay. If it were one or two who say this I would say these people are bigots who are prejudiced against the Malays. But when everyone tells me this then the problem must be real. The problem must be the Malays.

So I whack the Malays. I whack them because foreigners think that the Malays are a joke. I am angry with these foreigners. I feel insulted that they say these things about the Malays. I am also Malay. So when they run down the Malays they are also running me down.

I cannot whack the foreigners. I cannot whack them not because I am scared they will not come to Malaysia. I cannot whack them because I know they are telling the truth.

Of course the truth hurts. The truth always hurts. And because it is the truth I cannot whack the foreigners for running down the Malays. The anger builds up in me. I need to whack somebody. But I can’t whack those who are telling the truth. So I whack the Malays instead. I whack the Malays because I am ashamed that the foreigners say bad things about the Malays and also because what they are saying is the truth and there is no way I can argue with them or prove them wrong.

But that does not mean I like others whacking the Malays. If you whack the Malay I will whack you back. If you are another Malay then that is okay. But if you are not Malay and you whack the Malays then I will whack you back. I have my pride and dignity and if you insult the Malays then you are insulting me as well. And I don’t take kindly to insults. So you whack the Malays at your own peril.

Was Rahim Noor’s Perkasa speech warning of “a human rights wave” an open proxy shot in a battle of three Malaysian Prime Ministers?

Was the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor’s Perkasa speech warning of “a human rights wave” which would be like “a new religion” and threaten and erode the basis on which the nation was founded an open proxy shot in a battle of three Malaysian Prime Ministers about democracy, human rights and the rule of law not only in Malaysia but in the Commonwealth and the world?

It can be no coincidence that Rahim Noor’s speech was immediately given endorsement by his former boss and the fourth Malaysian Prime Minister of 22 years, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who warned that “Opposition politicians are using human rights issues for their political benefit”.

It can also be no coincidence that the two warnings by Mahathir and Rahim, made in a matter of 24 hours, came on the eve of the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, which is to consider the scathing report of the 11-member Eminent Persons Group (EPG) with wide-ranging and far-reaching reform proposals to end its organizational “decay” and to avoid the Commonwealth being condemned by history as “hypocritical” allowing rogue member states to violate human rights and democratic conventions.

It has been reported that the 220-page report of the EPG, which has not been made public despite the EPG’s request that it be released before the CHOGM opening this morning, contained “a wide ranging and at times unexpectedly radical road map for change, outlined in 106 detailed recommendations aimed at hauling the organization into the 21st century” – including the appointment of an independent Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights commissioner empowered to monitor violations and propose action against them.

And heading the EPG – which includes former British Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind and retired Australian High Court justice Michael Kirkby – is none other than the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Were the warnings by Mahathir and Rahim Noor pre-emptive strikes in the battle of the three Malaysian Prime Ministers, with the fourth Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad warning the sixth and current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak not to support or have any truck with fifth Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah’s EPG proposals to improve the Commonwealth record in responding to human rights violations?

What is Najib’s stand – to endorse Abdullah and the EPG proposals at the Perth 2011 CHOGM or to buckle under to pressures by Mahathir and Rahim Noor and to prevent the rogue Commonwealth countries which violate human rights from scrutiny and censure by a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights?

The stand Najib will take in Perth 2011 CHOGM on the EPG report on Commonwealth reforms and the appointment of a Commonwealth Commissioner for Democracy, the Rule of Law and Human Rights – whether to back Mahathir or Abdullah – will be a clear indication as to whether his promises of democratisation and political transformation, whether on electoral reforms, repeal of the Internal Security Act, removal of draconian and undemocratic laws and measures, have any credibility at all.

Najib should take serious note of the blunt warning of the EPG report about the Commonwealth “in danger of losing its relevance”.

The EPG report had warned:

“Now is the time for the Perth CHOGM to authorise the urgent reform this report recommends and to mandate a concrete implementation plan.

“Reform has never been more necessary.

“There may not be another chance to renew, reinvigorate and revitalise the Commonwealth to make it relevant to its times and people in the future.”

The warning of the EPG report that “there may not be another chance to renew, reinvigorate and revitalise Commonwealth to make it relevant to its times and people in the future” is of equal pertinence to Najib as to the relevance of his premiership and UMNO/Barisan Nasional rule to the people and country of Malaysia.

Will Najib prove to be unequal not only to the task of Commonwealth reform but also to the challenge of reform and national transformation of Malaysia?

It's a 'Malaysian-Australian solution'

The New Straits Times

THE proposal to swap asylum seekers between Malaysia and Australia is not a "Malaysian solution" but a "Malaysian-Australian" one, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

The prime minister said he made this clear to his Australian counterpart, Julia Gillard, when they held a bilateral meeting yesterday morning.

The proposal to swap asylum seekers and refugees was scuttled by the Australian High Court in August.

Under the proposal, Australia was to have sent 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 processed refugees.

Najib said the plan was first proposed by Australia and later presented to Malaysia.

"We discussed it and only then, the two countries agreed to implement a package," he told Malaysian journalists after delivering his keynote address, "21st century infrastructure: new global partnerships", at the Commonwealth Business Forum 2011 in Perth.

Najib said Gillard's government remained interested in implementing the proposal but her government was short of one vote in support of it.

"Her government is hopeful and committed but it needs a lot of legwork on their part to get that one vote. So the proposal is postponed until such time her government can overcome the setback by obtaining a majority."

The prime minister said it was not fair for the Australian media to label the proposal a "Malaysian solution".

He also said that he cleared with Gillard the "negative" perception that Malaysia was mistreating asylum seekers and refugees in the country.

"This is not true. In fact, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees acknowledges our good treatment of them and views positively our efforts to deal with them," said Najib who is in this Western Australian city for the four-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), beginning today.

The court and the PM’s Department

The Star
PUTIK LADA By ANDREW YONG

The separation of powers is a central principle woven into the fabric of our Constitution. And it is essential that the judiciary is not only independent, but also seen to be independent of the other branches of Government.

“MAHKAMAH Jabatan Perdana Menteri”. I have to admit to have been slightly taken aback, to say the least, when I saw these words the other day, embroidered in gold on the black cotton jacket of a member of the court staff at the High Court in Penang. I blinked.

Was I at the wrong court? Had the High Court suddenly been subsumed into the Prime Minister’s Depart­ment? Or was it that the Prime Minister’s Department was now a department of the High Court?

Perhaps I should have understood that cashiers, clerks and other administrative staff at the High Court were civil servants appointed by the executive and assigned to the courts to support the administration of justice.

Perhaps I should have appreciated that in the absence of a dedicated Justice Ministry (which was abolished in 1970), it was only natural that such staff members would come under the Prime Minister’s Depart­ment.

And yet, in spite of every rationalisation that I could think of, I knew, deep down, that the words in gold thread looked wrong, and were plainly inappropriate.

They could not possibly be read by a litigant appearing before the courts without giving him the wrong impression about the relationship between the courts and the head of the executive. And yet some staff manager had ordered those jackets.

Some court staff members were plainly wearing them. And there must have been some judges and registrars who saw them being worn on a day-to-day basis without raising any objection.

The separation of powers is a central principle that was woven into the fabric of our Constitution.

The Alliance submission to the Reid Commission, reflecting the unanimous view of all parties in Malaya, stated that “The Judiciary should be completely independent both of the Executive and the Legislature”.

And for the public to have confidence in the judiciary, it is essential that the judiciary is not only independent, but also seen to be independent of the other branches of government.

Our Merdeka Constitution originally contained admirable safeguards of judicial independence.

Until 1960, Supreme Court judges were appointed by the King upon the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, after consulting the Conference of Rulers, with no input from the executive. Only in the appointment of the Chief Justice was the Prime Minister consulted.

The Merdeka Constitution likewise gave the executive no power to suspend or to constitute tribunals for the removal of judges, such powers being vested in the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, which was chaired by the Chief Justice and consisted mainly of judges or retired judges.

History sadly shows that the amendments of 1960, which vested in the executive the right to select, suspend and to commence removal proceedings against judges, ultimately paved the way for the 1988 constitutional crisis, the darkest days of the Malaysian judiciary, during which Lord President Salleh Abas and two other Supreme Court judges were dismissed by the executive.

Yet, even the Merdeka Constitution did not provide for a perfect separation between the executive and the judiciary.

This shortcoming can best be seen in the Judicial and Legal Service (JLS), which supplies magistrates and subordinate court judges as well as government legal officers.

Unlike in India, where the leaders of independence comprised many people imprisoned by the colonial justice system, and where the independence movement therefore campaigned for a strict separation of the judiciary and the prosecution services, in Malaya there has never been any pressure for such a separation.

To this day, it is normal for a JLS officer to alternate between the subordinate judiciary and the government legal services, and for magistrates and Sessions court judges to be junior in the JLS to Senior Federal Counsel who appear before them.

Lawyers will even tell tales of Sessions court judges standing up and addressing senior government lawyers as “Tuan” when the latter enters the judge’s chambers! This state of affairs is plainly unsatisfactory.

Once a judge is appointed to the High Court, he enjoys security of tenure and cannot be removed except for misbehaviour or disability. Nor can the terms of his employment be altered to his disadvantage.

However, that does not prevent him from being given additional benefits by the executive. The most obvious discretionary benefit today is in the conferment of titles.

In England, every High Court judge is knighted, every Court of Appeal judge is made “The Right Honourable” and every Supreme Court judge without exception gets the title of “Lord” or “Lady”.

But in Malaysia, there is no standard system of titles for judges. A judge who is showered with federal titles will naturally be regarded as being a favourite of the executive, whereas if a senior judge retires without any federal title, it will generally be assumed that he has displeased the executive.

The inconsistent awarding of titles within the gift of the executive is detrimental to public confidence in the independence of the judiciary, and has even led to public scandal.

It is high time that the judiciary, the executive and the legislature take concrete action to improve public confidence in the independence of the judiciary.

The setting up of the Judicial Appointments Commission has been one positive step in recent years. It should be followed by further confidence-building reforms.

> The writer is a young lawyer. Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column – a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, visit www.malaysianbar.org.my.