Four main threats to nations social contract
Fauwaz Abdul AzizPublished: Oct 30, 2007 6:29 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Prominent lawyer Tommy Thomas spelled out the four main threats to the nation's social contract - the Islamisation process, the Islamic state declaration, the encroachment of syariah courts onto the civil courts' jurisdiction and the fanning of racial sentiments by politicians.
Prominent lawyer Tommy Thomas spelled out the four main threats to the nation's social contract - the Islamisation process, the Islamic state declaration, the encroachment of syariah courts onto the civil courts' jurisdiction and the fanning of racial sentiments by politicians.
"As the 50th anniversary of Merdeka loomed, the social contract came under serious attack from many fronts," said Thomas in his paper presented at the 14th Malaysian Law Conference this morning.
The social contract refers to the pre-Merdeka trade-off between representatives of the main ethnic groups over the provision of citizenship to the mainly migrant communities on the one hand, and the recognition of the Malay community's language, religion and socio-economic privileges.
"Perhaps the greatest threat is posed by Islamisation," said Thomas.
According to him, the 1980s and thereafter witnessed the implementation of measures designed by then-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, to promote and project Umno's vision of Islam as against that of its Islamist rival, PAS.
This led to, among others, the introduction of Islamic banking and insurance schemes, Islamic values in the civil service and public universities and the establishment of the International Islamic University.
Because the debate between Umno and PAS was which between them had the 'correct' version of Islam, non-Malays were relegated to the backseat and this had led to a damaging 'climate of fear and apprehension', said Thomas, who cited political analyst Farish A Noor.
If you're not Muslim, don't comment
"Right-wing Malay-Muslim groups, parties and organisations have cowed the non-Malay/Muslim section of society by telling them that they have no right to comment on matters Islamic, and that they have no right to protest against the increasingly repressive laws and regulations that have been passed in the name of Islam.
"Needless to say, this has engendered a climate of fear and apprehension among many otherwise decent Malaysians, who might want to comment on such matters but have been reduced to silence," he said.
Thomas said the next logical step to the Islamisation process was Mahathir's "irresponsible" declaration on Sept 29, 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state.
"It caused great unease among all non-Muslims. It was thus an irresponsible statement by Dr Mahathir, particularly as he was leading a Barisan Nasional government previously led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Hussein Onn - all of whom were always absolutely supportive of the social contract agreed to during Merdeka," he said.
Thirdly, said Thomas, the civil courts have consistently declined in recent years to accept jurisdiction for disputes involving Muslims and non-Muslims in family matters.
"Apart from a poverty in reasoning in reaching clearly wrong conclusions of law, the problem is compounded by the fact that the decisions of the judges are distinguished by their religion, with the result that lawyers (and no doubt informed laymen) are now able to predict the result of any litigation the moment the religion of the judge assigned to hear the case becomes known," he said.
Lastly, Thomas said racism had also reared its ugly head in the years immediately preceding the 50th Merdeka anniversary which undermined the fabric woven by the social contract.
For this, Thomas said political parties in both the ruling coalition and the opposition are to blame.
"Surely, the August legislative house, after 50 years of nationhood, can deliberate, debate and discuss issues of national importance by race/religion-free methods. If members of parliament and leaders of all political parties do not think, speak and act as Malaysians, how can they expect the citizens to do so?" he asked.
The glass ceiling
On another matter, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil spoke in the law conference of the great strides the country has achieved towards attaining gender equality.
There still however remained many significant challenges and obstacles, she stressed.
Among them were cultural and traditional social constructs that prevent gender equality, said Shahrizat.
Secondly, the increased workload placed on women due to their multiple roles as wives, mothers, workers and healthcare givers affect their economic, career, and political contributions.
Institutional factors such as economic segmentation and stratification also form barriers to gender equality and lead, for example, to discrimination at work right from recruitment through posting and promotion exercises in both the public and private sectors.
"This glass ceiling is subtle most of the time. Women very often have to wait longer than men for promotions," she said in her speech.
To overcome these hurdles, there has to be a paradigm shift towards a mindset that accepts gender equality.
Both the private and public sectors must participate in achieving this change, said Shahrizat.
Finally, the dual legal system consisting of the civil law and syariah law needs to be harmonised in order to develop a situation that is free from inconsistencies in the application and interpretation of our laws.
"Therefore, we need to look into how to harmonise both systems to ensure that the issue of women's rights to equality and non-discrimination is properly addressed in accordance with civil and syariah law," said Shahrizat.
"As the 50th anniversary of Merdeka loomed, the social contract came under serious attack from many fronts," said Thomas in his paper presented at the 14th Malaysian Law Conference this morning. The social contract refers to the pre-Merdeka trade-off between representatives of the main ethnic groups over the provision of citizenship to the mainly migrant communities on the one hand, and the recognition of the Malay community's language, religion and socio-economic privileges.
"Perhaps the greatest threat is posed by Islamisation," said Thomas.
According to him, the 1980s and thereafter witnessed the implementation of measures designed by then-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, to promote and project Umno's vision of Islam as against that of its Islamist rival, PAS.
This led to, among others, the introduction of Islamic banking and insurance schemes, Islamic values in the civil service and public universities and the establishment of the International Islamic University.
Because the debate between Umno and PAS was which between them had the 'correct' version of Islam, non-Malays were relegated to the backseat and this had led to a damaging 'climate of fear and apprehension', said Thomas, who cited political analyst Farish A Noor.
If you're not Muslim, don't comment
"Right-wing Malay-Muslim groups, parties and organisations have cowed the non-Malay/Muslim section of society by telling them that they have no right to comment on matters Islamic, and that they have no right to protest against the increasingly repressive laws and regulations that have been passed in the name of Islam.
"Needless to say, this has engendered a climate of fear and apprehension among many otherwise decent Malaysians, who might want to comment on such matters but have been reduced to silence," he said.
Thomas said the next logical step to the Islamisation process was Mahathir's "irresponsible" declaration on Sept 29, 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state.
"It caused great unease among all non-Muslims. It was thus an irresponsible statement by Dr Mahathir, particularly as he was leading a Barisan Nasional government previously led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Hussein Onn - all of whom were always absolutely supportive of the social contract agreed to during Merdeka," he said.
Thirdly, said Thomas, the civil courts have consistently declined in recent years to accept jurisdiction for disputes involving Muslims and non-Muslims in family matters.
"Apart from a poverty in reasoning in reaching clearly wrong conclusions of law, the problem is compounded by the fact that the decisions of the judges are distinguished by their religion, with the result that lawyers (and no doubt informed laymen) are now able to predict the result of any litigation the moment the religion of the judge assigned to hear the case becomes known," he said.
Lastly, Thomas said racism had also reared its ugly head in the years immediately preceding the 50th Merdeka anniversary which undermined the fabric woven by the social contract.
For this, Thomas said political parties in both the ruling coalition and the opposition are to blame.
"Surely, the August legislative house, after 50 years of nationhood, can deliberate, debate and discuss issues of national importance by race/religion-free methods. If members of parliament and leaders of all political parties do not think, speak and act as Malaysians, how can they expect the citizens to do so?" he asked.
The glass ceiling
On another matter, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil spoke in the law conference of the great strides the country has achieved towards attaining gender equality.
There still however remained many significant challenges and obstacles, she stressed.
Among them were cultural and traditional social constructs that prevent gender equality, said Shahrizat.
Secondly, the increased workload placed on women due to their multiple roles as wives, mothers, workers and healthcare givers affect their economic, career, and political contributions.
Institutional factors such as economic segmentation and stratification also form barriers to gender equality and lead, for example, to discrimination at work right from recruitment through posting and promotion exercises in both the public and private sectors.
"This glass ceiling is subtle most of the time. Women very often have to wait longer than men for promotions," she said in her speech.
To overcome these hurdles, there has to be a paradigm shift towards a mindset that accepts gender equality.
Both the private and public sectors must participate in achieving this change, said Shahrizat.
Finally, the dual legal system consisting of the civil law and syariah law needs to be harmonised in order to develop a situation that is free from inconsistencies in the application and interpretation of our laws.
"Therefore, we need to look into how to harmonise both systems to ensure that the issue of women's rights to equality and non-discrimination is properly addressed in accordance with civil and syariah law," said Shahrizat.
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