Discoursing on the Brink of Disharmony

Assalamu alaikum and Hello everyone

A friend recently confided in me on his personal take on (one of) the reasons behind the poor election showing by the Barisan Nasional component parties, particularly those of Gerakan-MCA-MIC. He is by the way a moderate UMNO member and was not shy to admit that he voted for the opposition in a straight fight between two non-Muslim Malay candidates.

His reasoning was very frank: Malaysians are peace-loving people, he said. The (then) recent developments of open conflict, confrontation and dissent by certain race based organisations thus indicated to him that the BN component parties which are supposed to be championing these races have not done their job well enough. Therefore these component parties were rejected, most of them outright, as their failure to protect the interests of their races had sacrificed the harmony of the country.

Shaken by the poor polling results these component parties react, with some overzealously. Rather than looking in at their own weaknesses, certain parties started looking elsewhere, at the weaknesses of others for the ease of scapegoating. Some even naughtily encroached the Never-everland of Constitutional privileges which are senstively held dear by the Malaysian Malay Muslims.

Whilst Article 10(1) of the Constitution guarantees the right of every Malaysian to free speech, this right is not absolute and is limited by Article 10(4).

The HRH Sultan of Perak, having the experience of a learned judge in the capacity of Lord President of the Federal Court once said:

The right to free speech ceases at the point where it comes within the mischief of the Sedition Act (1948).

Therefore, I nodded in agreement on the recent comment made by Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (DSSHA) expressing his concerns on the Malaysian Bar Council holding a forum discussing the Malaysian social contract.

His remarks was later attacked by the MCA Youth wing, citing that DSSHA had shown lack of mutual tolerance. The wing further made two sweeping statements:

1. "All Malaysians are knowledgeable and mature enough to discuss any matter related to the Constitution openly," and


2. “Anyone who wants to prevent or object to such forums has actually gone against the freedom of speech as enshrined in the Constitution.”

My friend's remark came back gushing into my head.