The Malaysian Bar - Keeping the Faith under the Constitution: MyConstitution at Eaglepoint (16 Aug 2011)

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Keeping the Faith under the Constitution: MyConstitution at Eaglepoint (16 Aug 2011)

Thursday, 25 August 2011 10:15am

Contributed by Thean See Xien, with photos by Woon King Chai and Wong Jye Mei, Members, Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee

The Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee (“BCCLC”) was invited to present a talk entitled “Conversations on the Constitution: Keeping the Faith under the Constitution” at 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, at Eaglepoint Church, Puchong, on 16 Aug 2011 (Tuesday). The objective of the event was to address some of these concerns and empower people with knowledge of their rights, particularly in respect of religious freedom under the Federal Constitution.

The attendance for the talk was extremely encouraging; the seating area of the church was fully packed with

church members and their friends who were interested to learn more about the Constitution. It was in this enthusiastic atmosphere that Syahredzan Johan, Chairperson of BCCLC, took to the stage and delivered a presentation on the MyConstitution Campaign. He explained that the Constitution was the supreme law of the land, and that everyone needed to be familiar with its provisions in order to be able to safeguard their rights; a position supported by the first Duli Yang Maha Mulia Yang di-Pertuan Agong in his inaugural address to the Malayan Parliament. Syahredzan Johan then pointed out that many freedoms taken for granted were actually enshrined in the Constitution, and gave examples of how the Constitution was applicable in daily life. After touching on the various institutions established under the Constitution, Syahredzan Johan introduced the MyConstitution Campaign, its aims, initiatives and phases.

Upon concluding his presentation, Syahredzan Johan turned the floor over to Joanne Leong, Co-Deputy Chairperson of BCCLC. Joanne Leong went on to introduce the three panellists for the night: Aston Paiva, Nizam Bashir, and Edmund Bon, former Chairperson of BCCLC. All three speakers have had experience in handling various freedom of religion cases.

Aston Paiva began by defining the scope of religious freedom in Malaysia. He was of the opinion that Malaysia is not an Islamic state but a secular one. He further opined that the guaranteed freedoms were the right to profess one’s religion (ie to state one’s creed in public, from which other freedoms may be inferred, such as the right to change religions (subject to certain restrictions) and the right to not have any religion), the right to practise one’s religion (except where detrimental to public order), and the right to propagate religion. This last freedom may be restricted by the individual states, as permitted by the Constitution.

Aston Paiva continued by stating that religious groups had the right to manage their own affairs, and cited the 2009 Catholic Herald case on the usage of the word “Allah”, in which, in his opinion, the government’s actions were based purely on emotional considerations and not sound constitutional principles. He commended the decision made by the High Court judge that allowed the Catholic Herald to continue using the term “Allah”. He elaborated that this state of affairs resulted from a confusion of what Article 3 of the Constitution, which established Islam as the “religion of the Federation”, meant. He also referred to the Reid Commission’s comment on the clause, which cited that the latter did not prejudice the fundamental secularism of the state.

Aston Paiva then exhorted the audience to learn about other religions and the good values contained in each. He shared that he had recently re-read the Bible and realised how various aspects of Jesus’s arrest had actually been “unconstitutional” (if the Constitution existed at that time). He concluded by asking the audience to reflect on religion and the way it affected politics in Malaysia.

The next speaker, Nizam Bashir, stated that there was a need to address some fundamental questions, including the status of religion under the Constitution. He echoed Aston Paiva’s earlier assertion by citing the Reid Commission’s report, and added that as there was a provision for states to set up and run Syariah courts, it therefore meant that Malaysia was a “quasi-secular” state, contrary to Aston Paiva’s conclusion earlier.

Nizam Bashir highlighted that if there was a desire to allow religion to be visible in the public sphere, criticism for any public action should also be permitted. He decried the typical knee-jerk Malaysian response to issues that arise, based on a certain interpretation of Islam and intolerance of any criticism from non-Muslims. He also noted restrictions on dialogue in this matter, referring to the case of Dr Mohd Asri, former Perlis Mufti, who had been arrested for allegedly giving a religious talk without first obtaining a licence from the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (“JAIS”). He observed that this requirement for a licence was rooted in the fear that divergent opinions from scholars would lead people astray.

Nizam Bashir further elaborated on the limitations to freedom of religion as found in Article 11, specifically citing Article 11(5), which did not authorise any act contrary to public order, health or morality. He elicited laughter from the audience when he gave the example, taken from Star Wars movie lore, of how Sith Lords could not kill Jedis with lightsabers simply because it was a tenet of the Sith creed.

Nizam Bashir concluded the topic of proselytisation by revealing that it was not just non-Muslims who were barred from propagating their religions; the situation with Dr. Mohd Asri showed that even Muslims were not allowed to preach to fellow Muslims. He did not agree with this restriction, yet it was there. Lastly, he mentioned that many of the recent controversies in relation to religious freedoms were motivated primarily by politics.

Edmund Bon, the final speaker of the night, explained that the people are the answer to the problems in Malaysia. He said that while people were fed up with the situation in the country, there was no point in complaining any further, and he urged people to take action. He stated that many were amazed with the BERSIH 2.0 rally, which brought together Malaysians of different races and religions in a common cause and broke down the “wall of fear”. Edmund Bon added that the solutions to basic issues were not necessarily political, and there was a need to keep fighting and agitating for things to happen, in addition to educating the public on issues that mattered. Edmund Bon wrapped up his segment by quoting from the Book of James from the Bible, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do”.

The talk was followed by a lively question-and-answer session, in which a wide range of topics, such as double jeopardy, the high number of constitutional amendments made and the JAIS raid, was covered. Among the topical questions discussed were the rights of non-Muslims to marry, and subsequently divorce, Muslims, the definition of propagation, and the penalties for doing so.

At the end of the event, Pastor Timothy Loh of Eaglepoint thanked Syahredzan Johan and the panellists for taking part in the interesting discussion.

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