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KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council of Malaysia will host a forum on social contract and “Ketuanan Melayu” tomorrow.

Titled “Social Contract Forum”, council secretary Lim Chee Wee said the forum aimed to provide a platform for people to debate on the theory of social contract.

“This is an important issue. It affects the fundamental rights of various stakeholders in the country,” he said.

Lim said there were parties and scholars who recognised the existence of a social contract and “Ketuanan Melayu” while others disregarded it.

“In recent years, there has been active discussion on the existence, nature and implications of Malaysia's social contract. Just over four weeks ago former Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Prof Ungku Aziz Ungku Hamid opined that there was no such social contract,” he said.

Ungku Aziz's statement was later refuted by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who reportedly said that the social contract exists – as an unwritten understanding.

“The people are confused. Every Malaysian should be able to claim a birth right to their country. It should be “Ketuanan Bangsa Malaysia” instead of “Ketuanan Melayu”, Lim added.

“This forum provides the right opportunity for such discussion,” he said.

The forum will see advocate and solicitor Tommy Thomas, who has described the social contract as “an accommodation on power sharing”, Dr Mavis Puthucheary who agrees with Ungku Aziz, and political scientists Dr Kua Kia Soong and Dr Farish Noor present their views.

Other topics to be addressed include relevant legal provisions, purported “Islamisation” trend, racial and religious tensions as well as current challenges for nation building.

The forum will be held at the Bar Council Auditorium at 9am. Admission is free. Call 03-2031 3003 for more information.

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