Contributed by Daniel Albert and Noor Arianti Osman, with photo by Daniel Soon
Day 2, Friday, 30 July 2010: The final session for the day was the much anticipated talk on Freedom of Information and Investment by Chief Minister of Selangor, YAB Tan Sri Dato Seri Abd Khalid Ibrahim.
Tan Sri Khalid started by commending the Malaysian Bar for being unwavering in its fight to promote democracy and uphold the rule of law and fundamental liberties in Malaysia without fear or favour. He further praised the close working relationship that the Selangor Government enjoyed with the Bar, in particular, noting the joint efforts to promote Orang Asli rights as well as the recent launch of the Bar’s MyConstitution Campaign by the Selangor Government.
Tan Sri Khalid acknowledged that many people voted for Pakatan Rakyat at the last general elections based on its pledges to fight corruption and promote good governance in Malaysia. He recognised recent public uncertainty on whether Pakatan would be able to deliver on their promises but assured the audience that Pakatan had not forgotten its election pledges.
Day 2, Friday, 30 July 2010: The final session for the day was the much anticipated talk on Freedom of Information and Investment by Chief Minister of Selangor, YAB Tan Sri Dato Seri Abd Khalid Ibrahim.
Tan Sri Khalid started by commending the Malaysian Bar for being unwavering in its fight to promote democracy and uphold the rule of law and fundamental liberties in Malaysia without fear or favour. He further praised the close working relationship that the Selangor Government enjoyed with the Bar, in particular, noting the joint efforts to promote Orang Asli rights as well as the recent launch of the Bar’s MyConstitution Campaign by the Selangor Government.
Tan Sri Khalid acknowledged that many people voted for Pakatan Rakyat at the last general elections based on its pledges to fight corruption and promote good governance in Malaysia. He recognised recent public uncertainty on whether Pakatan would be able to deliver on their promises but assured the audience that Pakatan had not forgotten its election pledges.
As part of its efforts to promote good governance, the Freedom of Information (State of Selangor) Enactment 2010 Bill was recently tabled in the Selangor State Assembly for its second reading. The legislation seeks to enhance disclosure of information for public interest by providing the public with access to information produced by every department of the State Government. In essence, the legislation seeks to put in place ‘a legal process by which government information is required to be available to the public’.
In his handout, Tan Sri Khalid set out the proposed application process for information under the Bill. Every state government department would have an Information Officer who would serve as an intermediary between the department and the public to assist with access to information. Applications for information would be made to the respective Information Officers, who would have to respond within 30 days, or seven days for urgent cases.
Information that was not subject to any written law and did not ‘jeopardise the reasonable and secure operation of the state or its departments’ would be made available under the proposed legislation. Personal information of individual third parties however remained protected under the Bill.
Tan Sri Khalid criticised the culture of secrecy that was far too prevalent in Malaysia citing laws such as the Official Secrets Act, the Printing Presses & Publications Act, the Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act as having been amongst the root causes of this culture. He opined that access to information was a fundamental right in any mature democracy. It allowed the people to keep the government accountable and was an effective means of check and balance.
Tan Sri Khalid noted that more than 70 countries around the world including China, India and Thailand had implemented laws on freedom of information, with many other countries working towards implementing such laws. He went on to query the Federal Government’s failure to put such legislation in place in Malaysia.
Tan Sri Khalid also highlighted that even before this Bill was tabled, significant efforts were made by the Selangor Government to allow access of information to the public, citing the declassification of documents relating to the abandoned housing project in Bukit Botak as well as the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide report as examples.
He ended his presentation by assuring the audience that the Selangor Government was serious about translating the election promises made by Pakatan Rakyat into reality. He was proud of the developments made in key areas such as freedom of information and hoped that the Malaysian Bar would continue to support such efforts.
Questions and comments were thereafter posed by members of the audience before the session was concluded.
In his handout, Tan Sri Khalid set out the proposed application process for information under the Bill. Every state government department would have an Information Officer who would serve as an intermediary between the department and the public to assist with access to information. Applications for information would be made to the respective Information Officers, who would have to respond within 30 days, or seven days for urgent cases.
Information that was not subject to any written law and did not ‘jeopardise the reasonable and secure operation of the state or its departments’ would be made available under the proposed legislation. Personal information of individual third parties however remained protected under the Bill.
Tan Sri Khalid criticised the culture of secrecy that was far too prevalent in Malaysia citing laws such as the Official Secrets Act, the Printing Presses & Publications Act, the Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act as having been amongst the root causes of this culture. He opined that access to information was a fundamental right in any mature democracy. It allowed the people to keep the government accountable and was an effective means of check and balance.
Tan Sri Khalid noted that more than 70 countries around the world including China, India and Thailand had implemented laws on freedom of information, with many other countries working towards implementing such laws. He went on to query the Federal Government’s failure to put such legislation in place in Malaysia.
Tan Sri Khalid also highlighted that even before this Bill was tabled, significant efforts were made by the Selangor Government to allow access of information to the public, citing the declassification of documents relating to the abandoned housing project in Bukit Botak as well as the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide report as examples.
He ended his presentation by assuring the audience that the Selangor Government was serious about translating the election promises made by Pakatan Rakyat into reality. He was proud of the developments made in key areas such as freedom of information and hoped that the Malaysian Bar would continue to support such efforts.
Questions and comments were thereafter posed by members of the audience before the session was concluded.