Vernacular Schools Need to be Abolished; Why and When?

Establishing a single national education system for primary and secondary schools has always been a contentious affair. Whilst such idea may seem idealistic to many, but realistically, it is deemed to be sensitive in nature to the Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indian communities. After all, to many proponents of vernacular schools in Malaysia, a discussion into abolishing the “national-type” schools is akin interfering and disturbing their racial identities. Taking a glance into history, the creation of a single national education system has been opposed ever since pre-independence 1951 Barnes Report. While this article may seem provocative to many, let us view this from a neutral stand for the betterment of the nation.

Why are vernacular schools important to many Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians?

Vernacular schools i.e. Tamil and Chinese schools have played intrinsically significant role in the past and also in the present in making sure the survival of Mandarin and Tamil languages in Malaysia. Malaysia is seen unique in the international eyes not merely because this nation is multi-racial, but due to the ability of each race to hold tight to their racial identity and customs, and at the same time, maintain national stability.

Tamil and Chinese schools, especially the long-standing schools, are close to the communities’ hearts. After all, such schools are built independently without any external financial help, despite all hardships. According to the still-living old Indians, some Tamil schools are built, mixed with soil brought from India during colonial times. This shows the sentimental value that these schools treasure for the communities.

It is undeniable, while Malaysian Indians and Malaysian Chinese still celebrate their festival and consume traditional delicacies, more and more people are losing good grasp of their mother-tongue language in speaking and worse, in writing. Why, even the writer is bad in writing in Tamil, notwithstanding the futile attempts taken to improve his skills.

Vernacular schools help in giving Tamil and Mandarin languages a lengthened lease of time. Younger generations are taught to write and converse fluently in their native languages. Not only this, students of vernacular schools are brought closer to their culture through activities and teachings. For example, “Ponggal” is three-day auspicious celebration for the Indians. This festival is akin “Pesta Menuai” and is given holiday in Tamil schools to allow the students to celebrate the festival with their families. Apart from this, the festival is also celebrated in schools. I believe, in Chinese schools, such traditional celebrations are also given due importance. Indirectly, through these celebrations and activities, students will be closely-knit to their culture and tradition.

While some sceptics may claim that national schools also organise such events and provides holidays, my question is, to what extent?

WHY should Vernacular Schools be Abolished?

In a country like Malaysia which constitutes of diverse races, languages and religions, unity or national solidarity is mandatory. Without it which will spell an undesired disaster of instability and racial tensions. Education is the best platform to bring everyone together, regardless of religion and skin complexion, since a young age, to create a non-withering bond called the Malaysian inclusiveness. In pre-independence days, the colonial masters cared less about creating such unity, thus preferring to divide and rule. Existence of Tamil, Chinese and ”agama” schools was never an issue.

But now, it is no longer feasible for separation of education system. A child studying in Chinese and Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) primary and secondary schools for example, will stand very small chance in getting to know in detail about other races, what more of having friends of a different ethnicity. Not only that, despite many pushing for better command of English language lately, the need to master the Malay language will never erode.

1    Like it or not, many students in Chinese and Tamil schools in the past, have shown mediocre fluency in this language. While students whom enter national secondary schools may improve their conversing ability, those who remain in the vernacular schools, stand less chance in speaking good Malay language as they have very less opportunity to practice. Yes, I do admit that my examples may not suit all students in vernacular schools, but it is unfortunate that many of them do face such problems. I, myself have seen many instances.

2    Besides that, creation of a single education system allows the usage optimisation of educational resources in Malaysia. It is a no brainer to note that many Tamil schools are under-utilisation. Just imagine, some schools having merely 5-10 students in a single intake. Isn’t this a waste of resource? If a single education system comes into realisation, Blue Ocean Strategy can be deployed. Students in an under-utilised school can be transferred to a bigger school, providing them better amenities and surrounding. With more students in a single school, students’ competitiveness will escalate and induce them to work harder.

Not only that, the Government could save a huge chunk of taxpayers’ monies as the need to up-keep these under-utilised schools is eliminated.

    Furthermore, the Education Ministry is constantly struggling in placing new teachers into the schools and the fact is glaring, that more and more teachers are currently unemployed due to lack of teaching positions in schools. Paradoxically, Chinese schools are facing insufficient supply of teachers. This is simply because, the teachers in Chinese schools are demanded to be in Mandarin even for those teaching English and Malay languages. With the creation of a single system, such problems can be eventually pre-empted.

WHEN Should Vernacular Schools be Abolished?

While the abolishment of vernacular schools should be the ultimately aim, I firmly believe, it is implausible to be achieved in near future. For this objective to materialise, the government and all related stakeholders need to:-

1.    Establish compulsory trilingual education system in national schools.

-       The Malaysian Government needs to emulate the Singaporean Government in introducing mother-tongue languages to the students. Students in Malaysian national schools should be made compulsory to take mother-tongue language apart from Malay and English Languages, from Standard One. Malay students should be made to take and pass Jawi, Indian students to take Tamil and Chinese students to take Mandarin. For students of other languages, such as Punjabis, special arrangement should be made.

2.    Improve education quality in national schools.

-       This needs special attention from the Education Ministry. The quality of education has to be improved. This means the teachers in national schools need to regularly monitored and should be subjected to penalties if they are found to be unproductive. Coming from a national primary school and listening to complaints by my friends and even my teachers, it is evident that some national school teachers (not all) are showing lackadaisical attitude in teaching. Some resort to chatting with their colleagues while leaving their class unattended. Some even has the audacity to be racially-biased when interacting with their students. Such situations, are however rare in national-type schools although I do agree there are also unproductive teachers there as well. Perhaps, having students of the same ethnicity makes the teachers to perform better and avoid making racial statements. Maybe.

3.    Allow students to take leave for their festivals.

-       While major festivals such as Deepavali and Lunar New Year are granted public holiday, other festivals such as Ponggal and Mooncake Festival should be granted school holidays for the relevant ethnicities. The state and school administration should also consult all relevant stakeholders before deciding on monthly and final examination dates. Having examination for the school-children on Thaipusam and Chap Goh Mei’s eve, for instance, is simply unwarranted and insensitive.

4.    Abolish Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) as well.

-       The existence of SMA is also akin to the existence of Tamil and Chinese schools. The students of SMA have very less opportunity to get to know with students from other races and religions, thus confining them into silos. Some students from SMAs, as I have seen, do not even know that Hindus are prohibited from consuming beef. This inevitably shows the detrimental gap in unity that is created due to having parallel education system. If vernacular schools are to be abolished, the same should be done to SMA for better inclusivity and avoid talks of racial discrimination.

Conclusion

We, Malaysians need a single and good education system for the upcoming generations. Politicising education issues for one’s political expediency is highly unwarranted. The Education Ministry needs to come up with comprehensive reforms to improve national schools. Only after such tangible improvements, racial parties such as MIC, MCA and also other political parties need to reach out to people explaining the crucial need of a single national education system. I hope that MIC and MCA will not just keep tacit regarding this issue, with the intention to win votes from the race they are representing. Apart from these, NGOs such as Dong Zong and Jiao Zong need to be more understanding on the significance of an inclusive single national education system and play their role to disseminate justifications to abolish vernacular school system.

We need serious change. Stop being apologists like our Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin who claims that our education system is better than the developed nations’. Wake up, Tan Sri!

P/S: We need Education Ministers who are educationists and have experienced teaching kids in the past. The current ones have degrees in economics and social science. How ironic!

Is Malaysia’s poverty rate really low?

On March 20, I attended a public lecture by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in University of Malaya organised by its Faculty of Economics and Administration.

Speaking about poverty in Malaysia, the 89-year-old former prime minister was eager to emphasise that Malaysia's hardcore poverty rate is below 1% and the overall poverty rate stands at 1.7%. That's a huge "success" from the New Economic Policy and other policies pursued by the country.

But, is it really true?

After independence, Malaysia’s journey in economic growth and development has been mesmerising.From an agrarian economy to an economy which is now thriving on services (almost 58%), Malaysian policymakers have delivered much in uplifting the economic standards of the rest of “Anak Malaysia”. But,to what extent?

Now back to the core issue.

In Malaysia, our poverty line income (PLI) is set around RM860. This is the national average although it tends to vary according to regions, that is, the peninsula, Sabah & Sarawak.At RM860, it means anyone earning less than that is considered to be under the poverty cluster. That's what the government's data says. But is the RM860 threshold appropriate?

No. Why?

The United Nations defines poverty as income below 50% of the national mean monthly income.The OECD, on the other hand, says that it should be below 60% of the median monthly income.

Let us just take the benchmark by the UN.

In 2012, Malaysia's mean monthly income was RM5,000. This inevitably means that those earning below RM2,500 should be categorised under the poverty group and not under RM860.

To our horror, if the benchmark is RM2,500, this brings the poverty percentage in comparison to the Malaysian households to around a whopping 40%.

This shows that a huge proportion of Malaysian households fall under the poverty group and no doubt, with the rising cost of living in recent times, more Malaysians are bound to struggle financially.This compels the government to alter its methodology of drawing a benchmark to identify the poor so that appropriate government aid can be channelled to them.

While some might deny that Malaysians are better off since the number of billionaire and millionaire Malaysians is growing (for example, Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir has just entered the top 10 billionaires' club and Tun Mahathir insists that his son is not a crony), the top 20% of wealthy Malaysians control 65% of the mean monthly household income.

Alas, the rest of us (80%) have to be contended with the 35% of mean monthly household income. – March 25, 2014.

Malaysia’s Islamisation; Good or Bad?

For me, the recent co-announcement by Malaysia’s Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) and the Home Ministry pertaining to the establishment of “Syariah police” is seen as detrimental and unconstitutional. As relayed by the Ministry, these would-be formed Syariah cops will “help to facilitate the incumbent police system vis-à-vis Syariah law’s implementation in Malaysia”.

This matter particularly needs attention from each and every Malaysian, and not only Muslims per se. The Malaysian Government is intentionally trying to bring another enforcement agency into the national picture to further fortify security and objectives of Syariah laws. Constitutionally, Islamic affairs, as dictated by the Ninth Schedule of Federal Constitution, fall under the jurisdiction of the states. Establishing Syariah cops, will only infringe on this provision of the Constitution as this Syariah police will be placed under JAKIM (which is a federal department) and will have its status in par with the existing police system. Plus, JAKIM not being an enforcement authority cannot train and hold power over an enforcement agency.

Enforcement of Islamic affairs is best and ought to be left at the hands of the State Governments. Enough already the “intrusion” of the Federal Government in the matters of Islam through the establishment of JAKIM and National Fatwa Council (which are not under the control of the State Governments). And now, Syariah Police?

Concerns on the Constitution aside, will the formation of Syariah police be significant to the process of Malaysia’s Islamisation? It will be extremely, like it or not. These Syariah cops will be powered to enforce their authority on anyone who offends the state from the Syariah perspective. And let just say, the Allah term imbroglio is re-ignited or it could just be any other case, concerning to Islam and other religions, these Syariah police will be tasked to intervene and this could apparently trouble the non-Muslims in practising their freedom of religion. Even without these “religious police”, we already had an issue in Selangor where the Bible Society of Malaysia was raided with the help of ordinary police. Do we want to see a repetition, perhaps a more severe one?

MALAYSIA’S ISLAMISATION

Contrary to the popular belief, Malaysia is NOT an Islamic state. Proponents of the “Islamic Malaysia” often cite Article 3 of the Constitution which proclaims Islam as the official religion of the administration. However, these people fail to understand that there are three solid points to deny the “hopeful hope”:

11. A “White Paper” titled Constitutional Proposal for The Federation of Malaya which acts as precedent to the Constitution after negotiations with various stakeholder, clearly dictates Malaysia to be a SECULAR STATE.

22.  Islam’s role in Malaysia is only to be ceremonial i.e. in the solemnisation of the King.

33. The first three Prime Ministers of Malaysia have referred to Malaysia as secular state in their public statements until the fourth PM “declares” Malaysia as an Islamic state “illegally” in September 2001.

The process of Islamising Malaysia has taken us into the job of creating two systems in many areas; one for the Muslims and another for the non-Muslims. For this article, let me just touch on the Syariah Law system. Since the genesis of a parallel Syariah Legal System in 1988, this has inevitably created disparity amongst the Muslims and non-Muslims.

Non-Muslims cannot be represented in Syariah courts as it is exclusive to our Muslim brothers and sisters only. Therefore, this has created confusion and many on-going complexities in our judiciary system, and leaving the non-Muslims in most situations, troubled.

For example, the case of Shyamala Sathiaseelan. Following her husband’s conversion into Islam, he sought for the religion conversion and custodial rights of the children. Poor Shyamala who could not be represented in the Syariah Court, has been denied for a fair legal service. In the end, the court has given her husband the rights to take the children into care. This is certainly lop-sided, in which judgement is meted out only by hearing from one side.

Second, the case of M.Moorthy, a crew member of the first two Malaysians who scaled Mt. Everest. After his death, Syariah officers came to “seize” his body, claiming that late Moorthy has converted into Islam previously. No thanks to the Syariah legal system, once again, Moorthy’s family was denied a fair trial and like anyone could guess, late Moorthy was given an Islamic burial.

Thirdly, the case of M. Indira which is an on-going case. After her husband’s conversion, he managed to get custodial rights and religion conversion for his children through the Syariah Court. However, as Indira filed a suit in the civil court, she was given the custodial rights by the High Court judge. This has led to contradicting judgements from the two legal systems. From one point, the husband is the victor and from the another, M.Indira is the victor. The fact that Article 121 says that Civil Courts cannot interfere into the jurisdictions of the Syariah Courts, further aggravates the fiasco.

HUDUD LAW?

Then, there are proponents of a Syariah-based punishment system in Malaysia. Ruling coalition and oppositions alike, have both supported and denied the establishment of hudud law in Malaysia. The supporters, like always ambitious, claim that Hudud will be exclusive to the Muslims only, and the non-Muslims will not be subjected to this Islamic law. My question, while Syariah legal system is meant to be exclusive to Muslims only, didn’t it cause trouble in the lives of the non-Muslims?

CONCLUSION

Malaysia is best to be left as a secular state. Yes, Muslims are the majority (60%), but it doesn’t mean that the nation has to be conferred with an Islamic status. Let us all, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, strive to create a fair and equal Malaysia for everyone.

Say NO to Syariah police and any other system that seeks to differentiate the brothers and sisters of Malaysia.

Malaysia; Poor Performance in Upholding Human Rights

The Malaysian government has always been a vocal voice in international arena, slamming foreign governments for their failures in championing human rights. Malaysia has also stood tall amongst its other “peers” in advocating for a non-aligned, peaceful and moderate world for all.

Malaysia has had its firm stand against the encroachment of the Palestinian territory by the Israeli forces, the United States’ military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, under the premise of “War on Terror” and even against the Apartheid regime of South Africa prior to the blacks’ disenfranchisement in 1994. Why, the articulate former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad even initiated an international tribunal to prosecute Tony Blair and George Bush Jr. for war crimes.

This is Malaysia; the land of liberty and equality.

But, then again, a bigger question arises, is everything in Malaysia as rosy as said?

11. The ultimate doctrine of the nation, the Federal Constitution upholds the rights of individuals in freedom of religion as enshrined in Part II, Article 11. However, in reality, this freedom of religion in Malaysia can end up being a contentious issue.  One major factor for such arguments is the recent Court of Appeal’s judgement, prohibiting the usage of the term “Allah” by a weekly called The Herald Catholics. Such judgement has created rift between the Muslims and non-Muslims communities in Malaysia, with many public figures claiming exclusiveness of such term, only for the faithful of Islam. However, the recent press statement of the Honourable Prime Minister, indicating that non-Muslims can continue to use the term and the judgement shall be confined only to The Herald, has created confusion over this contradicting situations.

22. As a further matter, Hindu temples demolition in Malaysia has caused disappointment within the Hindu community of Malaysia. To elaborate, many Hindu temples were built in Malaysia and as the famous Emeritus Professor Khoo Kay Kim puts it, there are more than 16,000 Hindu temples in this country. However, many of these religious buildings were built in rubber estates and even before independence. In the long-run, many of these temples are not registered with the government and are deemed illegal. With more and more developments taking centre stage in Malaysia now, many of these temples fall in the intended development zone and later on, face demolition threats from the developers. The recent incident at the Muniswarar Kaliyaman temple in P.Ramlee Street, Kuala Lumpur where part of the temple structure was demolished by the Kuala Lumpur City Council, was seen as infringement of freedom of religion. Even the Federal Territories Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan has defended the act, saying the demolition is valid and is done legally as ordered by the court. But, he has failed to produce a copy of the order.

However, earlier prior to the demolition, a court has declared that any attempt of demolition of the Muniswarar temple would be considered void and illegal. And a copy of this judgement has been produced by R. Sivarasa, the MP for Subang. This clearly contradicts with the statement given by the Minister and shows that, the act of demolition by Kuala Lumpur City Council is illegal and against the law.

Not only that, the way of the temple structure was demolished was considered inconsiderate and rude by the masses. This is due to the council workers entering the temple vicinity, wearing boots and the statues were removed not by the priests but by the Muslim council workers. This also contradicts Hinduism’s practice as any deity statues removal needs to be done accordingly through a ritual. Below is a picture of city council workers in the temple compound wearing boots-

Religious buildings should be respected by everyone, even if it means the authorities. Any rude intrusion as shown by the council workers should be condemned and those responsible should be made to apologise. However, sadly up to this very moment, no actions have been taken, just like what happened to the rest of the temples that were demolished.

33.  Freedom of religion does not only limit to different religions but also to different denominations within a religion. In Malaysia, faithful of Islam constitutes the majority population amongst the 28.5 million citizens of Malaysia. Almost all Muslims in Malaysia are called the Sunni Muslims. Yet, there are other denominations such as Shia (a group of Muslims who consider Saidina Ali bin Abu Talib as the last prophet contrary to the belief of Sunni Muslims, where Prophet Muhammad is considered as the last prophet of Islam). Social activists and several politicians have advocated against the persecution of Shia Muslims in Malaysia.

Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Dato' Seri Jamil Khir bin Baharom who is in charge of Islamic affairs, has previously said that Shia Muslims can continue to practise their belief in Malaysia without any persecution from the government, provided that the teachings of this sect are not spread. However, this clearly contradicts with a 1996 edict by the National Fatwa Council which ruled that Shia is a deviant sect and banned its practice. Not only that, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim, the secretary-general of the Home Ministry announced the growth of the minority Shia population, along with government plans to root out the movement.

The government’s stand in this issue remains ambiguous and confusing. However, taking into consideration the need to honour the right of an individual to practice his or her belief, persecution of the Shia movement should be brought to a rigid full stop. For this, roundtable discussions between the representative of the Sunni and Shia Muslims should be organised to attain a win-win situation. The government needs to understand that forcing an individual to accept a belief that he or she does not subscribe will prove to be futile.

44. Malaysia’s treatment of the registered asylum seekers or refugees from countries in the midst of conflict has also been debated for quite some time. The Malaysian Government is yet to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol under United Nations and has taken less effort to provide welfare to these people seeking refuge. According to official report, there are around 115,819 refugees in Malaysia registered under the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). And the vast majority of them are from Myanmar, which has suffered from decades of brutal military administration.

Although these registered asylum seekers are protected from the tensions in their homeland, they are prohibited from working or getting education in Malaysia. Currently, many refugees are sustaining their lives in Malaysia by doing odd jobs. Children of the refugees have been denied the right for education, limiting them only for informal education.

Asylum seekers are different than illegal foreign immigrants as they are here to seek life protection and not to exploit our economic opportunity. They are allowed to enter Malaysia’s in the interest of humanity. The Malaysian Government needs to ratify the Refugee Convention and establish a proper framework to provide a good protection for the refugees. Once they are registered under UNHCR, they ought to be allowed to enter the workforce and to receive education.

55.  Other than that, the government’s inaction against its own politicians and affiliates who produce seditious statements, have showcased the government’s biasness. Anti-race statements made by former Chief Minister of Melaka, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, current Menteri Besar of Kedah, Dato’ Mukhriz Mahathir and the President of PERKASA (a Malay supremacist group), Dato’ Ibrahim Ali who threatened the Holy Bible, fell on deaf ears and were never taken any actions upon. Why, even the current Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Dato’ Abdul Rahman Dahlan has defended Ibrahim Ali’s despicable statement!

Contrary to this, many leaders in the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat has been brought to justice for their so-called “seditious statements”. These include Batu Member of Parliament, Tian Chua, PAS member Shafor and activists Hariz Fathillah Mohamed Ibrahim, Safwan Anang and Hishamuddin Rais. It is not my intention to defend these Pakatan Rakyat representatives but, if these people can be prosecuted for their statements, BN’s politicians who uttered anti-racial statement should also be brought to court. The Sedition Act is not to be used for political expediency, but for national harmony.

66.  Malaysia’s affirmative action which favours the Bumiputera group can also be seen as a threat to human rights. Each and every citizens of Malaysia is entitled to equal rights in a country, regardless of his or her skin complexion or ethnicity. For me, the affirmative action practised by the Barisan Nasional Government in the past four decades has left the elites to reap the most benefits. This is evident through the stark disparity between the rich and the poor within the Bumiputera group. The intra-race Gini coefficient study in 2009 has proved that Gini coefficient for the Bumiputera group is 0.44 and is higher compared to the Chinese and Indian communities.

To the uninitiated, the Gini index ranges from 0 till 1. The closer the index is to 1, the higher the income disparity between the rich and the poor. This particular coefficient has clearly indicated that the Bumiputera group in Malaysia is plagued by the “rich get richer, poor get poorer” syndrome despite the so-called “success” of the New Economic Policy.

What Malaysia needs now is an Equal Rights Commission which was advocated by the National Economic Actions Council (NEAC). Malaysians should be left to stand on an equal and just economy for the betterment of the nation.

However, whenever talks regarding equal rights and affirmative action arise, these are blocked by political interference. In 2008, when the Bar Council has suggested for a national forum on social contract, the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Badawi has objected the need for such a forum or discussion. This was again reiterated by a royal statement from the Conference of Rulers.

Should Malaysia aspire to be one of the respected developed countries internationally, all Malaysians should be seen equal and any political or economic marginalisation should be ultimately eradicated.

77. In 2013, Malaysia continued its downward slide in the Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)’s press freedom index – dropping to 145th position out of 179 countries – Malaysia’s lowest ranking ever yet. In 2007, Malaysia was placed at 124^th. Even worse, in 2011, Malaysia was listed under the “Countries under Surveillance” list for its suppression of Internet freedom amongst the Malaysian citizens. This clearly indicates the limitations of freedom of information in Malaysia. Mainstream mass media has for long been seen as pro-ruling government and partisan.

This has to change, as soon as possible. A mature and intellectual Malaysian community can only be realised if free and neutral information is allowed to “roam” in Malaysia’s atmosphere.

88.Detention without trial is an example of infringement of human liberty. As the conventional wisdom goes, “a man is innocent until he is proven otherwise”. Malaysia gained international plaudits when the Prime Minister announced the abolishment of the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) which was passed in 1960, with the intention only to prosecute the communists, back in the old days.

However, the plaudits have now gone to waste with the amendment to the Crime Prevention Act 1959 being passed by the Parliament. This amendment allows for detention without trial up to two years, exactly like ISA. The public realises that the organised crime rate in Malaysia has increased in recent years, especially after the abolishment of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) and ISA in 2011. But, this doesn’t necessarily means that the re-introduction of the detention without trial is justified.

Supposedly, the police force should be able to reinforce their intelligence expertise and enforcement strength, rather than just to nab individuals and lock them up. The Royal Malaysian Police force needs a major overhaul in dealing with such organised crimes and again, detention without trial shall never be the answer.

Conclusion

The Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for was done on Oct 24, four years after the first in 2009. United Nations member countries urged Malaysia to abolish capital punishment, repeal oppressive laws, and respect the rights of Orang Asli and individual religious practices.

Malaysia is in a serious need to ratify the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination as racial problems are still on-going despite the multi-racial community living together for more than half a century. Besides, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia or SUHAKAM’s annual reports need to be debated in Parliament to scrutinise the human rights’ plaguing problem in Malaysia. It is troubling that despite its establishment in 1999 and SUHAKAM’s success in sending its annual reports to the Parliament, they were never debated. The time has come for the government to pay heed to the recommendations of the SUHAKAM reports for a better administration that upholds human liberty.

P/S: It’s never too late for anything, but political will matters!

"Allah" Term Fiasco & Why Malaysia Is Not An Islamic State

October 14th, 2013 will be one of the important dates many Malaysians would remember. The Court of Appeal has meted out a landmark decision, prohibiting a weekly named The Herald from using the word “Allah”, which refers to the Muslim God. This judgement, which I believe is endemic to only Malaysia, provokes many to think whether freedom of practising religion really exists.

Flying back in time, the whole “Allah” fiasco erupted in 2007 when the weekly in East Malaysia, was found using the term “Allah” in dictating the Christians’ messiah, Jesus Christ. This was followed by a ban by the Home Ministry which was then led by Tan Sri Hamid Albar, to prevent non-Muslims from continuously using the term. The main concern of such decision by the ministry was to pre-empt any confusion amongst Malaysian Muslims and also to prevent any effort of proselytising the Muslims by any parties, by manipulating the situation.

This however, was met by public furore, especially from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM). The respective groups demanded that Christians in East Malaysia be allowed to use “Allah” in the Malay-version Holy Bible, the Al-Kitab. Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur later filed a judicial review at the High Court in 2009 on the banning, resulting in a judgement that annulled the Minister’s previous decision.

Later on, on January 5^th 2010, the Home Ministry and the Government of Malaysia filed an appeal against the High Court ruling at the Court of Appeal.

On 2nd April 2011, the Government under the Najib leadership announced a Ten Point Solution to address the Bible issue and other related issues.

The Ten Point Solution is as follows:

1. Bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia.

2. These Bibles can also be printed locally in Peninsula Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. This is a new development which should be welcome by the Christian groups.

3. Bibles in indigenous languages of Sabah and Sarawak such as Iban, Kadazan-Dusun and Lun Bawang can also be printed locally and imported.

4. For Sabah and Sarawak, in recognition of the large Christian community in these states, there are no conditions attached to the importation and local printing of the Bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia/ Indonesia and indigenous languages. There is no requirement for any stamp or serial number.

5. Taking into account the interest of the larger Muslim community, for Peninsula Malaysia, Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, imported or printed, must have the words “Christian Publication” and the cross sign printed on the front covers.

6. In the spirit of 1Malaysia and recognising that many people travel between Sabah and Sarawak and Peninsula Malaysia, there should be no prohibitions and restrictions for people who bring along their bibles and Christian materials on such travel.

7. A directive on the Bible has been issued by the Ketua Setiausaha (KSU) of the Home Ministry to ensure proper implementation of this cabinet decision. Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders. A comprehensive briefing by top officials, including the Attorney General (AG), will be given to all relevant civil servants to ensure good understanding and proper implementation of the directive.

8. For the impounded Bibles in Kuching, Gideon, the importer can collect all the 30,000 Bibles free of charge. We undertake to ensure the parties involved are reimbursed. The same offer remains available for the importer of the 5,100 Bibles in Port Kiang, which have already been collected by the Bible Society Malaysia (BSM) last week.

9. Beyond the Bible issue, the Government wishes to reiterate its commitment to work with the Christian groups and all the different religious groups in order to address interreligious issues and work towards the fulfilment of all religious aspirations in accordance with the constitution, taking into account the other relevant laws of the country. In order to bring urgency to this work, in the capacity as the Prime Minister, the representatives of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) will be met soon to discuss the way forward.

10. The Christian Ministers in the cabinet will meet on a regular basis with representatives of the various Christian groups in order to discuss their issues and work with the relevant Ministries and myself in order to resolve them. As the leader of this country, the Prime Minister wishes to reiterate the Government’s commitment in solving any religious issues in this country. There is a need to manage polarities that exist in our society to achieve peace and harmony.

It has to be noted that this Ten-Point Solution was offered barely few days before the Sarawak State Election in April 2011. Many quarters denounced the offer, claiming it as an election tactic to woo the vast Christian voters in Sarawak. However, some other parties have accepted the Ten-Point Solution, as a way forward.

And on 14^th October, 2013, the Court of Appeal’s three jurists’ bench quashed the previous High Court ruling, indicating the ban on the Herald from using the sacred “Allah” term to stay. Having read the final written judgements by all three judges, it can be said that the Herald is prohibited from using the word “Allah” in its publications but it was never mentioned anywhere that non-Muslims should also be prohibited from using the term.

Recent press statements from the vocal Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi and the Prime Minister himself have indicated that non-Muslims can continue to use the “Allah” term and only the Herald has been banned from utilising it.

Thus, the arising situations have created never-ending confusions. If the Malay-version Holy Bible which uses “Allah” to dictate Jesus Christ is allowed and is legit, then why is the Herald, a weekly for the Roman Catholics in East Malaysia is banned? Why is this disparity?

Everyone, may it be Muslims or non-Muslims, should understand that no one should or can be forced to refrain from using “Allah”. Even in Sikhism, the term “Allah” is mentioned 46 times in its much-revered holy scripture, “Guru Granth Sahib”. Arabs, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, have been using the term for centuries. And the case is the same for the East Malaysia’s Christians. Citizens in Selangor, a state in Malaysia, have to say the word “Allah” each and every time the state anthem is sung as the line goes “Allah lanjutkan usia Tuanku” which literally means, Allah lengthens the life of His Majesty.

Clearly, the debate on whether the term “Allah” is exclusive to only Muslims will be never-ending. But, bearing in mind the need to provide the freedom of practising a religion, such issue should be avoided. However, having said that, non-Muslims should never misuse the situation to confuse or proselytise the faithful of Islam.

Is Malaysia an Islamic country?

I’ve never wanted to argue on Malaysia’s status as a secular or an Islamic state, hitherto. However, seeing several public figures using this case as their point to defend the prohibition of “Allah” term, I felt compelled to voice my stand.

Malaysia is a secular state, NOT an Islamic state. But, definitely, never take my words for it. There are reasons why Malaysia can never be said as an Islamic country.

To the uninitiated, the role of proposing a draft of the Federal Constitution was carried out by the Reid Commission, which serves under Her Majesty, the Queen of Britain. Originally, Article 3(1) which elaborates that Islam is the religion of the Federation was not mentioned in the proposed draft.

However, the insertion of Article 3(1) came about after objections, negotiations, discussions and consensus between all the stake-holders, including from various racial and religious groups. It came about by the White Paper known as the Federation of Malaya Constitutional Proposals 1957.  Paragraph 57 of the White Paper reads as follows:-

57. There   has   been   included   in   the   proposed   Federal Constitution a declaration that Islam is the religion of the Federation. This will in no way affect the present position of the Federation as a secular State, and every person will have the right to profess and practice his own religion and the right to propagate his religion, though this last right is subjected to any restrictions imposed by State law relating to the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the Muslim religion.

This particular White Paper has again been noted in the grounds of judgement by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali, one of the jurists in the appeal hearing of the “Allah” term at the Court of Appeal.

The role of Islam was meant to be ceremonial as in the coronation of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and others. Our founding fathers, most particularly, Tunku Abdul Rahman has never mentioned about Malaysia being an Islamic state in his speeches or even in during his tenure as the first prime Minister.

Then, how did this started to happen?

The Pan-Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) has always been advocating for the formation of an Islamic state if the party is elected to govern the Federal Government. This political party is largely seen as promoting the values of Islam, as a whole by many quarters.

In 1999, the Barisan Nasional government under the helm of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad suffered severe blow in the general election which saw the State of Terengganu falling in the hands of the PAS state government. The reason highlighted by many analysts has indicated that many Malay Muslims in Malaysia, particularly in the State of Terengganu, are seeing PAS as the true beholder of Islamic values rather than Barisan Nasional, the ruling Federal Government.

Thus, to recapture the attention of the Malay Muslim electors, Tun Dr. Mahathir in 2001, has “declared” Malaysia to be an Islamic state to show Barisan Nasional’s determination in upholding the Islamic virtues. This, however, is illegitimate as it contradicts with the Federation of Malaya Constitutional Proposals 1957 which is based on consensus amongst various stakeholders.

Having said this, I wish to reiterate that Malaysia is a secular state and should remain so, forever. Making Malaysia an Islamic state due to the concern that Muslims form the predominant population here, simply does not hold water.

P/S: Only you and I need religions, the country needs none.

Goods & Services Tax (GST); Why Malaysia Needs It

This article is specifically written to address the recent statement by Malaysia’s Leader of Opposition, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that the opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat may resort to protest if a new taxation regime, Goods and Services Tax (GST) is to be introduced in Budget 2014, later this month.

This new form of tax in Malaysia has drawn much attention from many quarters, particularly experts and politicians regarding the pros and cons that may be contributed if this tax is to be implemented. The idea of GST in Malaysia has emerged even in 1990s, but discussions and public outcry have put off the implementation until this very moment.

Even in Japan recently, public outcry was evident when its hawkish Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe announced that the consumption tax will be revised from 5% to 8% as part of his “Abenomics”; a slew of measures to help Japan recover from economic slowdown and deflation.

 GST has been touted by many as one of the best ways to sustain the nation’s financial stability. But then again, what is GST?

GST or also known as value-added tax (VAT) taxes on consumption. This means, the more you consume, the more you will have to pay. GST can be classified under the cluster of indirect taxes and if it is to be implemented in Malaysia, the jurisdiction to collect this tax will be under the Royal Customs Department. Globally, around 146 nations are noted for implementing GST as one of the tax regimes. The percentage of GST varies amongst countries, from as little as 5% to as high as 50%.

Why is GST important?

1    (1)    The non-inclusive taxation system

Malaysia’s current personal income tax needs more scrutiny in order to enhance its efficiency. Through the de facto taxation system, only 1.7 million Malaysians out of the 13 million people workforce are registered to pay the personal income tax. Approximately, only around 1 million Malaysians, however, are actually paying the tax as the rest are excluded through various tax deductions. This essentially means that a miniscule 3.51% of the entire population is contributing to income tax which plays a major role in raising the direct taxes contribution. This clearly indicates that, the current tax regime is simply narrow-based and unsustainable in the long run. Taxes play a significant role in providing financial means for the nation’s development.

Thus, apart from direct tax, indirect taxes collections have also to be boosted for better revenue generation. Statistics has shown that indirect taxes contribution has fallen in 2011 (17.6%) and further in 2012 (17.2%). This indicates the pressing need for GST implementation. Moreover, Malaysia’s highest individual income tax bracket of 26% compared to the highest tax bracket in the corporate tax rate of 25 % compels the spark of debates on the efficacy of our tax regime. Many pushes for reduction in personal income tax to increase the population’s disposable income. This is understandable and can be achieved if GST is implemented. The government will be forced to reduce the personal income tax rate as high individual income tax and GST, together will be financial burden on the citizens.

2    (2)    Over-dependence on natural resources

Contributions to the government’s coffer have largely depended on natural resources-based industries, namely the timber and oil and gas (O&G) extraction sectors. Especially, after the inception of PETRONAS in 1974, the state-owned petroleum company, the national revenue has been largely derived from the profits of this establishment (which is also famously noted as one of the New Seven Sisters). Official statistics have shown that around 40% of annual PETRONAS’s revenue is used for the nation’s expenditures. Such high dependence on hydro-carbon receipts cannot be justified and the revenue should be put to a better use. 

Taking Scandinavian countries like Norway and also the world’s second biggest oil producer, the Saudi Arabia as examples, a huge percentage of their oil revenue is channelled into their sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). These funds are later used to invest domestically and internationally to generate more profit. As a result, Norway’s and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth funds are amongst the biggest in the world. Technically, huge proportion of oil revenue is funnelled into these SWFs to establish financial backing for future generations. It is a common knowledge that these now-bountiful resources are doomed for depletion. Natural resources should not only be limited for the current generation’s use but also for the upcoming ones’.

As for Malaysia, there is a fund called “Kumpulan Wang Amanah Negara” in which small proportions of oil revenue is channelled into. Hitherto, PETRONAS has only contributed around 100 million per year compared to its tens of billions of profit. It is only starting from two years back, PETRONAS has voluntarily agreed to increase its contribution to RM 1billion per annum. Yet, by comparing this miniscule amount to its mass profit, definitely more proportion can and should be contributed to the fund. If this is made possible, Malaysia’s SWF could emerge as one of the world’s biggest fund and will be ultimately beneficial in long term.

3    (3)    Budget deficit

Malaysia has been registering budget deficits for the past 16 consecutive years, starting from the 1997 East Asian financial crisis. The nation’s expenditure has always been higher than its revenue for this duration and has caused the government to borrow from many sources. This has translated into high amount of national debt-to-GDP which currently stands around 53%, nearing the minimum threshold of 55%. If the national debt-to-GDP hikes above the threshold, it will send alarming warning to many quarters, regarding Malaysia’s risk in controlling debt. Such situation might even cause the Big Three ratings agencies to reduce Malaysia’s investment ratings. This later will force reduction in foreign investment.

Thus, in order to combat budget deficit which currently stands at 4.5%, the government needs to generate more revenue and the introduction of GST is very much timely. GST is capable in generating more revenue to the government’s coffer and this has been proven by many economists, both domestically and internationally.

How GST functions?

            I opine, to solve this state of problem, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has to be implemented. Currently, Malaysia is in use of another tax regime, Sales and Services Tax (SST). To the uninitiated, there are clear distinctions between GST and SST.

For example, Sales and Services Tax (SST) are taxed on every stage of sale. Let’s say, in the case of a bread loaf (just an example as Malaysia does not produce wheat, the raw material for bread), the wheat producer, the bakery, the bread wholesaler and lastly, the consumer will be paying the sales tax.

However, in GST, only the end-user; the consumer will be the one paying the tax.

Then, wouldn’t this mean the government’s revenue will be reduced if only the end-user is paying the tax? No! This is because GST is broad-based and will cover almost all goods except for zero-rated goods (essential items such as rice, sugar, etc.). Thus, it paves way for more revenue generation.

            With the implementation of GST, more Malaysians are entitled to pay taxes indirectly. This way of taxation is just and capable of eliminating “free-rider” mentality amongst the Malaysian masses. In comparison with the current system, GST paves way for a broad-based taxation system. However, due to misconceptions and rumour-mongering amongst the uninitiated, the disapprovals for GST implementation have grown louder. Thus, an independent laboratory analysing on the impacts of GST should be established, encompassing local and foreign experts for broader views and opinions.

Through this laboratory, the best percentage of GST should be decided together with its impact on the economy as well as the consumers. It should be noted that while there are countries imposing up to 50% of GST, nations like Canada only imposes 5%. A well desired and accepted rate should be on average if compared with our current sales tax of 10% and service tax of 6%. And at the same time, the rate should not burn a hole in the consumers’ pockets. Keeping that in check, essential items should be exempted to protect the lower-income group.

Only after well-preparation and research into the manners of implementation, the public should be educated through various feasible and friendly means like social media, on the growing necessity of GST. After all, the longevity and success of this tax regime depends on the public acceptance.

            Hypothetically, it is becoming more apparent that our taxation system is in need of a revamp. A transition to the Goods and Services Tax will boost the national revenue, better if this attempt is coupled with continuous rationalisation of subsidies and improving leakages in the government’s finance due to corruption and red-tape. A well-planned roll-out of GST shall project better revenue-generation in the government’s financial “assessment card”.

P/S: It has to be noted GST can also cause rise in goods’ prices. But, whether this will cause severe inflation or otherwise, largely depends on the Government’s manner of implementation.