Guest Editorial: Taking on the Biggest Elephant in the Malaysian Room: Article 153
Lim Teck Ghee
“We cannot underestimate the forces 【of extremism】 in the peninsula, Sabah or Sarawak ... They would view their survival purely from a particular race or religion and this would, of course, be damaging to the fabric of our country.
I have to continue to reiterate this point because there are forces with some extreme views.
Even after six decades of independence, you can still hear (such sentiments). This should not be tolerated”
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
Bernama report on PMX Speech, 31 May 2024, Penampang
In the existential battle for a secure and united Malaysia, the latest assurance by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that his government will continue to fight for, demand and ensure that the rights of every single citizen in Malaysia will be protected and preserved is indeed comforting. However, words and stirring speeches are far from enough.
Indeed, the man regarded as the nation’s and region's most reformist leader needs all the help that he, and his colleagues from Pakatan Harapan, the current ruling coalition, or any other aspiring government in the country for that matter, can get to win this battle.
The recent rash of controversy over opening university places to non Malay students in UITM, the police reports on the use of the ‘apartheid’ term to describe the situation in Malaysia, and numerous similar public tussles on the rights of Malay and non Malay communities with respect to Article 153 of the Constitution, are evidence that a long running festering wound in the country relates to the policy implementation and ramifications of that provision.
Why a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is Needed
The implementation of Article 153 is a wound that has occasionally turned gangrenous. It is also one that is possibly the major factor that stands in the way of unleashing the full potential of our young in building a secure, confident and united society.
So what can be done to lance and heal this festering wound? What is the antiseptic needed? And who can take on this operation? Clearly any examination of the special position of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the corresponding legitimate position and interests of other communities as defined in the Constitution and by Article 153 is difficult, if not impossible, to undertake in our supercharged political arena, despite the best intentions of our political leaders.
Not only are entrenched and combative racial and political divides in the way of sensible and judicious deliberation on this subject in Parliament, Article 10 (4) of the Constitution makes it illegal to question Article 153 and its provisions to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities.
Under the Sedition Act, questioning Article 153 is prohibited - even for members of Parliament, who usually have the freedom to discuss anything without fear of external censure or punishment.
However, even if the bicameral Parliament of elected and appointed representatives cannot debate the subject, there is no reason why it cannot initiate an independent and meaningful review and examination of the subject outside its august body by the best minds of the country.
How to establish the RCI
Such an initiative would not require the approval of the ruling or opposition political parties to jump start the process. All it requires is one or a group of concerned members of Parliament - either from the upper or lower House - to table a consensual private members’ bill calling for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry on the subject matter.
Whilst some opposition to this bill is to be expected, I am hopeful that a majority of our elected or appointed representatives will agree that a Royal Commission should be able to provide the critical, and possibly pivotal, analysis and value that Parliament and the nation badly need on this contentious subject.
Likely Support for the RCI
Apart from inputs by members of Parliament, I am certain that the country’s civil society, business, academic and other organisations will be more than ready to provide feedback and useful suggestions on the composition of the RCI, its terms of reference and other necessary features so that the Commission can arrive at practical findings and the necessary changes in policies and laws to drive the nation forward.
Malaysia has been stuck too long in the stalled and seemingly immovable standing and status on the special position provision for Malays and Article 153. There can be little dispute that the Malay community has progressed far ahead in the sectors specified by the Reid Commission when drafting the constitution in the 1950s.
In fact, Malay dominance in most aspects of society makes a mockery of the claims by Malay ultra nationalists that the community still needs protection and assistance at the expense of other communities and the larger national good.
Surely the younger generation in Malaysia inheriting the country are entitled to a level playing field in all aspects of their life, and to a fresh start without the encumbrance put in place 67 years ago when so much around them in the country and the world has changed.
Originally published in Eurasia Review 6th June 2024
LIM TECK GHEE
Lim Teck Ghee, ANU PhD graduate, is a Malaysian economic historian and policy analyst. He has a regular column, Another Take, in The Sun, a Malaysian daily and Oriental Daily; and is the author of Challenging the Status Quo in Malaysia, and Dark Forces Changing Malaysia (with Murray Hunter).
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The ultimate goal of the special privilege accorded to a particular race is material gain from economic advantage. In the law of nature, the law of sowing and reaping is a just law where labour is rewarded with fruitfulness. If there is law that can create a short cut for success without working for it like everyone else outside the privilege class, Malaysia would have the nation's long standing dilemma long time ago. However, there is no such law that favour a particular race.
Nothing comes free without paying a price for it. There is no law in reality that can legislate poor people into rich people, stupid people into people of wisdom, sick people into healthy ones.
The solution is prenatal education, where every baby before birth is provided with prenatal exposure
for the brain cells of the unborn to be given a sound foundation in all positive mental diets such as alphabets, words, number, musical notes and all other data for the maturity of the mind.
The serious alternative that works to make any race progressive is to provoke and stimulate the tender soul while still in the womb to be passionate learner even before birth.
The secret to invest in greatness of the mind of any race is from before conception with in the class room of the womb to make this unborn a learner. A learner cultivated from the womb most important of all is a soul capable of self learner.
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ”
― Alvin Toffler (4 Oct 1928- 27 June 2016)
The recent release of the result of the SPM where it was realized that 75% of the students who supposed to pass the examination, were given good grade by lowering the passing marks of all the subjects to make the ministry of education looked good.
The students' survival skills should be evaluated based on their ability to learn, unlearned and relearn. This is never taught from formal education dished out from kintegarten , primary school or even university where the pupils and students are supposedly taught to be literate and educated.
Education for the new century should be skill centred and not earned good grade.
"The only skill that will be important in the 21st century is the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will become obsolete over time." ~ Peter Drucker(19 Nov 1909-11 Nov 2005)
Education makes a people easy to lead, but difficult to drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave . Henry Peter Brougham ( 19 Sept 1778-7 May 1868)
"The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done-men who are creative, inventive, and discovers. The second goal of education is to form minds which can be critical, can verify, and not accept everything they are offered." ~ Jean Piaget
Unless the power that be in the government and the key decision makers in the education ministry acquired such a long term vision for the future of such a meaningful goal of education, this country shall continue to wallow in the mud of ignorance, stupidity and darkness of the mind.
Why does the government mindlessly and blindly follow year after year, government after government continue to use the same unless education syllabus, teaching methods. out of date text books that produced mediocre and incompetent student all these years? Why is there no one in this nation of 34 million people able to see the folly of this expenditure which leads to stagnant growth and slowly entering a failed state in every sector of society?
He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.
Sir William Drummond (26 Sept 1769-29 March 1828)
Prenatal education will slowly and surely lead this pathetic nation out of the tunnel of slow death.
The ability to reason, think, evaluate and access a problem and seek solution to overcome a social problem must be the concern of all.
China is what she is today is mainly due to the student's ability to learn science, mathematics and reading. Malaysia needs a large pool of talent to lead the nation forward. Prenatal education will significantly help every new born baby to acquire Elon Musk's early start in life as a self learner.
In his own words, Elon Musk said,“I was raised by books. Books, and then my parents.”
He reportedly read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica at age nine and would pore over science fiction novels, comics and nonfiction books for up to 10 hours a day. Some of the most influential books he read included “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series.
For Malaysia to get out of the 3Rs dilemma, the solution is to return to the habit and life style of reading and invest in the space between the ears. Reading will surely promote the cross pollination of ideas for vibrant thinking and wisdom to make sound decisions concerning every challenges of life. Our attachment to laws and privilege is the poison that kills progress.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.
Simone Weil (3 February 1909 - 24 August 1943)
Finally learn from the wisdom from the printed words.
“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos(9 November 1934 - 20 December 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator.
THe average Malaysian reading about 2 books a year, the CEOs of the top 500 Fortune companies in US read about 60 books a year!
For lack of ideas, wisdom, insight, information and experiences of life which can be easily obtained from reading, Malaysia has fallen behind for want of intellectual stimulants which motivate growth for nation building. If as a nation, we spend as much time eating as in reading worthy books, with the same consistency and frequency - we shall never be the same again.
The special position of the Malays was formulated with the consent of the non Malays. Thats how we got independence. There was no intent to have racial superiority. It was also not forever. 21 years only. Tun Ismail clearly stated that this special position is like a golf handicap. i.e. to help level the playing field but as we all know this Malay handicap has been abused. It has been hijacked by twisted by Malays to mean Malay superiority and imposed in perpetuity by Dr M without consent of the non Malays. He also created the NEP and Ketuanan melayu/Islam with the intention of moving into a position of Malay racial superiority forever. The ketuanan concept sold to the Malays, basically tells Malays they are the masters and the nons the servants. The Malays are always right, and so if a Malay/muslim has a disagreement with a NM, he is always right. That's why you have a CJ who gave credence to the evidence of a Malay/muslim, over that of a non Muslim, because in his view, Muslims never tell a lie. Now we all know that is false. But with this kind of carrot, who wouldn't want to be Ketuanan?Successive PMs have used the race/religion card to bolster their political position. Some have even resorted to starting a crisis, so that they can impose their race/religion agenda on the unwary Malaysian citizens. The light at the end of the tunnel is still not visible. Malaysians must endeavour to strive towards that light.