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KUALA LUMPUR, Sat: A contract is defined as a legally binding document exchanging promises and agreement between the parties. With this in mind, the writer attended the forum on ‘Social Contract’ organised by the Bar Council.

It was reported earlier that when the forum was announced, the Kelantan People’s Action Council (“MTRK”) issued a press statement expressing their concern over the discussion on such topic. In the spirit of encouraging a discourse to foster tolerance, the Bar Council went ahead with its plan to hold the forum on 28 June 2008.

The distinguished panel consisted of Dr Mavis Puthucheary (political scientist), Dr Kua Kia Soong (Director of SUARAM), lawyer Tommy Thomas, and Dr Farish Noor (political scientist). The Bar Council Secretary, Lim Chee Wee, presided over the forum, which drew massive audience of all races. The Bar Council Auditorium was packed and among those in attendance was Tn Haji Sulaiman Abdullah.

The forum was broken into 2 sessions, with a Q&A session in the end. The first session was given to Dr Mavis Puthucheary and Dr Kua Kia Soong, and the second session was allotted to Tommy Thomas and Dr Farish Noor.

In her session, Dr Mavis Puthucheary touched on the issue of Malay dominance. According to her, ethnicity dominates all aspect of life. Unwritten understandings were introduced to ensure fair representation of all races. She further stated that the Social Contract acts as a smokescreen for Malay supremacy. She mentioned that a new term has crept into mainstream society, that is “Kedaulatan Melayu”, which she asked whether this is just another form of the notion “Ketuanan Melayu”. Dr Mavis Puthucheary concluded her session by stating that she hopes the new coalition party could offer a genuine alternative to the racially divisive policies of the Barisan National.

In contrast, during his session, Dr Kua Kia Soong examined the historical background of the term Social Contract leading to independence. He said that the Social Contract has undergone 3 transformations since independence. Firstly, in 1957, where affirmative action policy was sparingly used pursuant to Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. Secondly, in 1971, when the ‘quota system’ was introduced through the amendment to Article 153. And finally, in 1986, the Social Contract was transformed when Dollah Ahmad made a speech on “Ketuanan Melayu”.

Tommy Thomas also analysed the historical background of the Social Contract and suggested that the Social Contract was an exchange: for the non-Malays to get full citizenship, the non-Malays had to concede special privileges to the Malays to assist the latter to ascend the economic ladder. Tommy also suggested that the Social Contract recognised Malaysia as a plural state where neither race has to forgo its origin, belief and tradition but they must have an undivided loyalty to this country. Because of this, he explained, Malaysia is against dual-citizenship as one cannot be loyal to two countries at the same time. He concluded that, today, the Social Contract is still relevant and is substantially intact.

Dr Farish Noor shared part of Tommy’s belief that the Social Contract is redeemable. In order to move forward, we need to rely on the Social Contract as it was intended for. However, he denied being part of the Social Contract, and argued that this applies to a large number of the audience and Malaysians at large. He asked why the younger generation have to be held accountable or bound permanently by the Social Contract. He believed that the Social Contract, as it is applied now, is an artificial tool that keeps the artificial state together. It rejects the original vision of Malaysia.

After all the speakers delivered their speech, Lim Chee Wee invited the audience to pose questions to the speakers. A man who identified himself from Kelantan asked Tommy Thomas whether it is wrong for the Malays to protect their privileges. Tommy Thomas then asked him back whether there are any objective facts that show the majority Malays are threatened. Dr Farish Noor added that the population is over-represented by the Malay Muslim. He asked where the fear came from since the urban Malays no longer accept the idea that they are under threat as they live with non-Malays all the time. He suggested that the fear is unreal and is instigated by the ruling Malays, the UMNO, and it is done all for their own self protection.

The writer finds that all the speakers are consistent in their views when they said that the Social Contract now is not in its original form when it was first introduced in 1957. As we move forward as a developing nation, the Social Contract cannot avoid from being evolved and transformed with the passage of time.

In her closing speech, the President of Bar Council, Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan, promised the audience that there will be more forums such as this in future. The forum ended at around 1pm.

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