Speech for Hari Malaysia

I was given the honor to be one of the speakers at the Celebration of Malaysia Day organized by the Selangor State Government at Dewan Jubli Perak, Shah Alam and the text is as follows:-

1. Pada hari yang mulia ini, tanggal 16hb September 2009, maka genaplah 46 tahun Negara kita Malaysia ditubuhkan sebagai sebuah Negara berdaulat yang terbentuk daripada 4 bahagian iaitu antarnya, Malaya, Sabah dan Sarawak.

2. Ini adalah satu fakta sejarah yang telah lama dilupakan, samada kerana pihak-pihak tertentu telah lupa akan hakikat yang sepatutnya tidak boleh dihapuskan dalam sejarah, atau mungkin kerana mereka ini sengaja tidak mahu anak cucu warga Malaysia mewarisi fakta sejarah yang sebenar.

3. Maka dengan itu, kita hanya meraihkan hari kemederkaan pada 31hb Ogos dan tidak meletakkan 16hb September dalam takwim Negara sebagai satu tarikh yang bersejarah

4. Maka dengan itu juga, maksud sebenar persekutuan atau federalisma telah diputarbelitkan bagi memenuhi agenda politik pihak-pihak tertentu. Janji-janji yang tersurat diketepikan, jaminan-jaminan yang termaktub diabaikan.

5. Selama 46 tahun, pihak-pihak tertentu ini menganggap kita yang berada di sebelah Semenanjung Malaysia lebih berhak daripada saudara kita di Sabah dan Sarawak untuk menikmati pembangunan yang dibiayai oleh khazanah bersama yang dikurniakan oleh Tuhan kepada Malaysia ini.

6. Oleh itu, sementara Semenanjung Malaysia menikmati pembangunan yang pesat sehingga mampu bertanding dengan Negara-negara jiran yang lain, saudara kita yang berada di seberang Laut China Selatan jelas jauh dan semakin hari semakin ketinggalan.

7. Pada masa yang sama, hak-hak tradisi dan warisan saudara kita di Sabah dan Sarawak juga turut terhakis kerana penghormatan yang seharusnya diberikan kepada mereka semakin hari semakin menguncup.

8. Jurang perbezaan pembangunan yang ketara ini tidak boleh lagi diteruskan tanpa halangan dan sekatan atas prinsip-prinsip dan nilai-nilai demokrasi, keadilan, kesaksamaan dan solidarity dalam sebuah Negara yang bersatupadu dan berkongsi nasib.

9. Sudah cukup lama, saudara kita di Sabah dan Sarawak menunggu keadilan daripada kita di seluruh Semanjung Malaysia. Sudah hampir setengah abad mereka menunggu kehadiran semangat federalisma yang sejati bukan sekadar belas kasihan dan simpati.

10. Selama 46 tahun ini, setiap pelusuk Negara ini kelihatan suram dan malap tidak sedikit pun kelihatan cahaya dari pelita harapan untuk membawa perubahan di kedua-dua belah Laut China Selatan.

11. Tetapi, segala puji bagi Tuhan, apabila fajar menyingsing pada tanggal 8 hb March 2008, rakyat Malaysia mula menyedari bahawa harapan masih ada di Malaysia yang kita cintai ini.

12. Warga Malaysia di 5 buah negeri di Semanjung Malaysia membangkit dalam suasana yang aman dan tenang, menuntut keadilan, membebaskan diri dari cengkaman kuku besi yang menindas sekian lama dan membuktikan bahawa kalau ada ikhtiar dan iltizam, pelita harapan akan terus menyala.

13. Selama 18 bulan dari tarikh tersebut, sudah nyata terbukti, kita mampu membawa pembaharuan. Kita mempamirkan kepada dunia kemampuan kita untuk memberi layanan yang adil dan saksama kepada semua rakyat tanpa mengira warna kulit, agama dan budaya.

14. Hak semua kaum di bawah matahari Malaysia dipertahankan dan diperkasakan. Kebajikan segenap lapisan masyarakat dari tua ke muda, dari kampong ke bandar, dijaga dengan rapi. Golongan yang terpinggir dan ketinggalan diberi harapan yang baru.

15. Semua impian menjadi kenyataan kerana tekad dan azam bersama kita di bawah pimpinan baru yang terbukti berupaya, berkaliber dan berwibawa .

16. Oleh yang demikian, maka pada hari Malaysia tahun 2009 yang mulia ini, berdasarkan prinsip dan nilai yang didokong bersama oleh seluruh rakyat Malaysia iatu demokrasi, adil saksama, aman damai, dan solidatiry, kita rakyat Malaysia dari kedua-dua belah lautan yang memisahkan tanah kepunyaan bersama kita, berdiri di atas tanah Negeri Selangor, pengkalan harapan baru Malaysia, hendaklah membaharui semangat dan azam kita untuk terus menyalurkan semangat perubahan di Selangor dan Semenanjung Malaysia menyeberangi Laut China Selatan, sehingga kita berjaya membawa pembaharuan sejati ke Sabah, Tanah di bawah Bayu dan Sarawak, Bumi Kenyalang.

My speech at Kelana Jaya on 17.7.2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p0Biw0WyrU

Learn from Miri

I went to Miri on last Friday, May 29, to attend the fund raising dinner organized by the DAP Miri Branch.


I like Miri, a city with a population of only 30,000, since the first time I visited this serene town sometime 10 years ago. The Miri airport is just 10-minute drive from the city center and I love the shady raintrees along the way.


The town centre is small by any standard of a city but the streets are almost impeccably clean and neat. The road users are relatively patient compared to those in other cities in Malaysia.


I noticed that the tarmac surfacing the road in then city seems to be containing high composition of tar. The road surface are therefore shining especially at night. It also absords noise from the friction between the tyres and the road.


This always reminds me of my first impression of Washington D.C. upon my arrival there in 1996. I was wondering why the streets in Washington D.C. were relatively quite despite the busy traffic. After some observations, I concluded that it must be due to the high content of tar in the tarmac.

When I came back on Saturday morning, I made a special observation on our roads here in West Malaysia. I think I am right though it may sound unscientific.

The only regret is that I always spend less than 24 hours in Miri. I promise myself that I will spend more time in my next trip and perhaps I will also travel to Mulu Cave.


Meanwhile, let us learn from Miri, especially the Municipal Councils like Klang. A trip to Miri will help.

Two police districts for Klang

The China Press organized a dialogue with the Klang Police on May 23, 2009 at the Dewan Orang Ramai Taman Eng Ann, the oldest and largest residential area in my constituency, Sungai Pinang, Klang.

I attended the dialogue to meet the OCPD, ACP Mohamad bin Mat Yusof and his senior officers from the Klang Police District Office.

Contrary to general belief, Klang is not on top of the list as far as crime rate is concerned. Those municipalities with names ended with ‘Jaya’, namely Petaling Jaya, Ampang Jaya Subang, and Gombak beat Klang in that respect.

The negative impression that Klang has been one of the most notorious cities was due to the outspokenness of the large number of active non-governmental organizations in Klang. While on the one hand these NGO have played an important role in supervising the police and raising public consciousness in crime prevention, those publicity created in the media has also unintentionally given a bad image on the other hand.

Be it as it may, that does not mean that the level of crime rate in Klang is satisfactory. Much need to be done by the police to make the residents feel safe to live in this once serene royal town.

As one of its efforts to improve its service, the current Klang Police District will split into two and the Klang river will be the boundary. The plan has been on paper for quite a while and hopefully it will not stay idle any longer.

Future in Melaka

I went to Melaka last night to pay my last respect to the late mother of Sdr Kerk Kim Hock, ex-Secretary General of the DAP and former MP for Kota Melaka, who passed away 2 days ago.

I only realized that the DAP Melaka had organized a forum on the subject of '1Malaysia' at its Dewan Rakyat DAP Melaka, the DAP Melaka Headquarters, on the same night when I arrived at Melaka. Sdr Goh Leong San, the Chairman of DAP Melaka and State Assemblyman for Kesidang, certainly did not want to miss the opportunity to get me onto the stage.

After visiting Kerk, I went back to the headquarters and joined the panel speakers, namelyJeff Ooi, MP for Jelutong, Tan Ah Chye, Chief Executive Secretary of Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and Lim Hong Siong, a writer.

I had attended at least 3 or 4 forum in Melaka after the 2008 general election to talk on various current issues. From my years of experience speaking at forums in Melaka, I observed and felt that the 2008 general election heat is still very much in the air even after 14 months as if a by-election was around the corner in Melaka. Of course, there are two impending ones in Penanti, Penang and Manek Urai, Kelantan, respectively.

All forums that I had attended in Melaka had been able to attract around 350 people. That is impressive considering that the location of Dewan Rakyat DAP Melaka is slightly away from the Melaka downtown.

More interestingly, the crowd in Melaka is very much responsive nowadays. They are no longer the quiet crowd that make the speakers worry about whether their messages have driven home. More and more people in middle age would even come forward to photograph with the speakers they like.

Whenever we talk about change in the country, we see their eyes twinkling with hopes. If we can keep the momentum, the future is bright, in Melaka.

Nizar loses in Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal overturned the decision of Kuala Lumpur High Court which ruled that Dato Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddinn was the legitimate Menteri Besar of Perak, today.

The decision of the Court of Appeal will have a serious implication to the interpretation of our Federal Constitution and all the Constitutions of the states.

Nevertheless, as Nizar can still appeal to the Federal Court, the Perak political and constitutional crisis is still far from the ending.

Why do we refer to “Parliamentary Practice by Erskine May”?

Some people may ask why do we refer to Parliamentary Practice by Erskine May (1815-1886) whenever discussing issues on parliamentary practice.

The direct answer to it is that Erskine May, a collection of parliamentary practice for hundreds of years, has been the foremost authority in Parliament of the United Kingdom, the blueprint of all parliaments in the Commonwealth. Over the years, Erskine May has also become the most influential reference in the Commonwealth Parliaments.

However, that reason alone is not good enough for us to quote Erskine May every now and then. As far as Selangor Legislative Assembly is concerned, unlike the Standing Order of Parliament of Malaysia, it is provided in the Standing Order No. 88, which states that:-

“All matters not specifically provided in these Orders and all questions relating to the detailed working of these Orders shall be regulated in such manner, not inconsistent with these Orders, as Mr Speaker may from time to time direct; and in giving such direction Mr Speaker shall have regard to the usages of Commonwealth Parliamentary practice so far as such usages can be applied to the proceedings of the Assembly." (The emphasis is mine)

The reason is now clear why Erskine May is the authority which has been dubbed the bible for parliamentary practice.

Some may further question the source of law that allows the Legislative Assembly to make such a regulation that permits the reference to a foreign authority. The answer is found in the Selangor Laws of Constitution, 1959. Article LXXV( 1) provides as follows:-

“Subject to the provisions of the Federal Constitution and this Constitution, the Legislative Assembly shall regulate its own procedure and may from time to time make, amend and revoke Standing Rules and Orders for the regulation and orderly conduct of its own proceedings and conduct of business.”

Although the Standing Order of Parliament of Malaysia, in particular Standing Order No. 100, has only the first limb of the provision of Selangor Legislative Assembly Standing Order No. 88, and does not specifically refer to Commonwealth Parliamentary practice, Erskine May has been frequently referred to resolve disputes arise in the proceedings over the years.

An ignorant Deputy Speaker of Parliament

I am appalled by the statement of the Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat Malaysia, Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar, as published in the a Chinese daily, Sin Chew Jit Poh, today.

He made the statement when commenting the decision of the Privileges Committee of Selangor Legislative Assembly to recommend the suspension of Dato Seri Khir Toyo from the service of the House for a year after being found guilty of contempt of the Legislative Assembly for refusing to attend a public hearing by the Special Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat).

Wan Junaidi said that the Privileges Committee should not punish Khir and should instead try its best to compel Khir to attend the public hearing, including issuing warrant against Khir. He further criticized the Privileges Committee for disclosing its decision before tabling it to the Legislative Assembly.

While there is a provision in the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 that empowers the Speaker to issue a warrant for apprehension and imprisonment against a person, there is no such enactment or any such power to issue warrant at the Legislative Assembly level. Even at the level of Parliament, such warrant can only be issued upon resolution of the House after finding guilty of contempt.

On the disclosure of the decision of the Privileges Committee, there is no provision in the Standing Order or any other enactment that prohibits the same. The Standing Order only prohibits revelation of the evidence and documents before the committee’s report is tabled to the House.

I have no qualm if Wan Junaidi wants to defend his comrade using his status as a Deputy Speaker of Parliament. However, he should stick to the law applicable and not to mislead the public which he has obviously done.

No wonder the sitting of Parliament has always been chaotic and dubbed circus. Perhaps Wan Junaidi should make a study trip to the Selangor Legislative Assembly. I would be honored to play host to his visit.

What is “Contempt of the House”?

Contempt of House of Parliament or the Legislative Assembly is a serious offence. However, the definition of contempt is rather wide. In Erskine May Parliamentary Practice, 23 rd Edition, page 128, it is generally defined as follows:-

“…any act or omission which obstruct or impedes either House of Parliament in the performance of its function, or which obstructs or impedes any Member or officer of such House in the discharge of his duty, or which has a tendency, directly or indirectly, to produce such results, may be treated as a contempt even though there is no precedent of the offence.”

It is impossible to list down every act that might constitute a contempt. However, there are some broad principles drawn from the past cases that exemplify the definition of a contempt.

1. Any disorderly, contumacious or disrespectful conduct in the presence of either House or a committee will constitute a contempt, which may be committed by strangers, parties or witnesses. (ibid. page 128).

2. Disobedience to rules or orders of House of Parliament or of a committee. In particular, it is stated that “disobedience to the order of a committee made within its authority is a contempt of the House by which the committee was appointed. Individuals have been held to be in contempt who did not comply with orders for their attendance made by committees with the necessary powers to send for persons; as have those who have disobeyed or frustrated committee orders for the production of papers.” (ibid. page 131).

3. Any abuse of right of petition may be treated as a contempt (ibid. page 131).

4. Members deliberately mislead the House (ibid. page 132).

5. Act of corruption or impropriety (ibid. page 132).

6. Receiving fees by Members for professional services related to Proceeding in the House (ibid. 137).

7. Diminishing the respect due to the Members by words spoken or writings published reflecting on the character or proceeding of the House as such acts of abuse tends to obstruct the House in the performance of its function (ibid. page 138).

8. Publication of false of perverted reports of debates (ibid. page 139).

9. Premature publication or disclosure of committee proceedings (ibid. page 139)

10. Obstructing Members in the discharge of their duty by way of arrest, molestation, reflection and intimidation (ibid. page 143).

The list is not exhaustive. Nevertheless, it is sufficient for our reference in the present case in Selangor.

Chaotic Perak Legislative Assembly: Was removal of Speaker lawful?

YB Sivakumar was supposedly removed as Speaker of Perak State Legislative Assembly by a motion tabled by YB Dr Zambry this morning when the Deputy Speaker was chairing the meeting from her assemblyman’s seat in the presence of the Speaker who was then still occupying the Speaker’s chair.

The office of Speaker is provided by the constitution. As such, the election and removal of the Speaker shall be conducted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the constitution. Any departure from or contravention of the relevant constitutional provisions will render the proceeding unconstitutional and unlawful.

Article XXXVIA(3)of the Perak State Constitution provides that whenever the Speaker is not present at the meeting of the House, another member of the House shall, in accordance with the provision of the Standing Order, be appointed to carry out the duties of the Speaker.

It is crystal clear that the Deputy Speaker has acted ultra vires the state constitution in chairing the meeting that removed YB Sivakumar as the Speaker when Sivakumar was present in the House. The motion passed to remove YB Sivakumar was therefore unconstitutional.

Consequently, the election of the “new” Speaker was unconstitutional as there was no vacancy to fill.

Perak Assembly held at under a tree, at a car park (Updated)

It was reported that Perak State Legislative Assembly held its emergency meeting under a tree(The Malaysian Insider), at a car park (Malaysiakini). Is that lawful?

By convention and under normal circumstances, legislative assembly meeting should be held in the assembly building.

However, if that is not expressly provided either by the Constitution or the Standing Order, the meeting may be held at any place. That must has been the intention of the legislature for not fixing a designated place of the meeting.

More importantly, Parliament or Legislative Assembly is all about the assembly of the people's representives to make laws, not the place they meet.

Therefore, my humble opinion is that a meeting of the legislative assembly held either under a tree or at a car park is lawful.

What is the Secretary of the House?

Everyone is asking who is the Secreatry of Perak State Legislative Assembly who defies the order of the Speaker. However what is more important to ask is, "what is he?".

In the House of Commons in England, the Secretary of the House is called the Clerk. There is a Department of the Clerk of the House which comprises several offices for which each office is in charge of a Principal Clerk.

The esstianl function of the Department of Clerk is to provide the procedural assistance for the orderly conduct of the work of the House and its Committees. Besides, they are involved in administrative work and asssit in drafting reports.

The position of the Secretary of the House in Perak, and all other states including Parliament, is similar to that of the House of Commons.

Therefore, it is clear that the Secretary of Perak State Legislative Assembly has acted ultra vires his job function. He is no body as far as the Constitution is concerned. He is only a creature of the Standing Order. Obviously, he is not competent to interprete the Constitution and the Standing Order.

Toll hike a stimulus package for highway concessionaires?

While the nation is anxiously waiting for Najib Abd Razak, the Prime MInister-in -waiting cum Minister of Finance to table a mini budget, allegedly a stimulus package for the economy, in Parliament, the government annouce the hike of the toll rates for 5 highways in the Klang Valley today.

This sounds like an economic stimulus package, too, but it is for the highway concessionaires first.

The announcement is made hardly 2 days after the Minister for Public Works announced the abolition of the toll collection for Salak South highway.

This episode is entitled to win the award of the best joke for the year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Umno: Doomsday in sight?

Even Tan Sri Muhammad bin Mohd Taib also offers himself for the No.2 possition in Umno as reported by the Malaysiakini today.

11 years ago in 1997, to avoid the embarrassment that might cause by my motion of no confidence against him in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly, Mohammad made a wise choice of resigning as the Chief Minister of Selangor after he was arrested in Brisbane Airport for failing to declare the currency worth approximately RM2.4 million carried by him.

With his announcement today, there are now 5 candidated vying for the post of Deputy President of Umno. That is not the end of the list. The much talked about Tan Sri Muyhidin Yasin has yet to make his announcement. If he did in the next few days, the list would be at least 6. That is chaotic and unprecedented for Umno.

Although Abdullah has said that Najib will be his successor, no one should take it for granted that Najib would have a smooth sail to the presidency. At least Tengku Razaleigh will not easily give up his hope especially now that he has Dr Mahathir's support.

This is a once-in-the-lifetime opportunity to see how the infighting within Umno will lead to its self-destruction.

Najib may not be the next PM

(Photo by Malaysiakini)

While all eyes are on Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak he may end up as the president of the Umno but not the Prime Minister of Malaysia by March 2009.

As I have posted earlies in this blog, there are 2 ways of casting no confidence vote against the Prime Minister in Parliament and as such the Pakatan Rakyat will still be able to change the government in the coming parliamentary sitting commencing on this Oct 13 by rejecting the Budget if a 14-day notice of motion of no confidence is not served in time.

It is still too early for Najib to be overjoyed about Abdullah's decision to throw in the towel in the Umno election.

Abdullah to quit

Latest from Malaysiakini: Abdullah to quit in March next year. Thus, it ends all speculations.

Now all eyes are on Najib.

If Anwar Ibrahim were to have sufficient number to take over the Federal Government from the Barisan Nasional, the same methodology as I wrote in my previuos post would similarly be applicable.

(Edited version)

How to cast no confidence vote against Abdullah?

Everyone is still waiting for Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's announcement. Read Malaysiakini today on the related story.

If Abdullah wanted to retain his position as Umno president, the Pakatan Rakyat would have to resort to casting no confidence vote against him in Parliament.

By virtue of Article 43(4), the Prime Minister shall tender the resignation of the Cabinet if he ceases to command the confidence of the majority of Parliament unless at his request Yang DiPertuan Agong dissolves Parliament.

There are 2 ways of passing a no confidence vote against the Prime Minister. Firstly, by giving a 14-day notice in accordance with the Standing Order. Then the whole whole will be waiting for the motion to be debated and decided. Secondly, by rejecting the budget tabled by the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister for which the budget debate will commence on Oct 13.

If the Pakatan Rakyat intended to launch a deadly ambush, the second method would be the better choice as no prior notice is required.

In any event, that would be equally explosive, like the one in Nagasaki in 1945.

Where to, Abdullah?

Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will make announcement tomorrow if he is seeking to retain the president's post of the Umno.

There are a few possibilities. Firstly, he might call it a day and will retain the prime minister's post until the election of the new Umno president next March. This seems to be the view of most of the Umno top leaders.

Secondly, he might fight on against all odds. Of course, one should not underestimate him. He might have had quietly obtained sufficient promises to nominate him to seek re-appointment by tomorrow. If this was the case, it would be a big blow to Dato Sri Najib Abd Razak and his ambitious followers.

Thirdly, Abdullah might bring 40 Umno MPs, and perhaps some other MPs from the Barisan Nasional component parties, to join Pakatan Rakyat and form a coalition federal government on the condition that he would be retained as Prime Minister for the next 2 to 3 years to carry out his reform in the judiciary, anti-corruption and public delivery system. Thereafter, he would hand over the premiership to Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

It looks weird but it is possible. There would be a few advantages if the Pakatan Rakyat were to accept this offer. Firstly, there would be a peaceful transfer of power from the Barisan Nasional to the Pakatan Rakyat. Thus, there would be no declaration for emergency. Thirdly, all those reforms proposed by him could be carried out with full support from the Pakatan Rakyat MPs as against the Barisan Nasional MPs.

Lastly, Anwar would eventually be made the Prime Minister.

Whereto, Abdullah? It's all up to you.

Umno is melting down

Before Datuk Abdullah Ahamd Badawi can annouce his decison whether to contest for the Umno presidency on this Oct 9, he has already been treated as transparent by his own leaders within the Umno.

Everyone in the Umno, except Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, has taken for granted that Dato Najib Abdul Razak will be the only and natural choice of substitute. As such, the relatively unknown leader like Dato Nur Jazlan has also announced that he would contest for the No. 2 post after the announcements by Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam.

Going by the Malay culuture and of course the Umno culture, these leaders are biadap (rude) for being disrespectful to Abdullah Badawi. How could they assume that Abdullah Badawi will certainly step down? This is similar to the situation of a son buying coffin for his ailing father.

They are destroying not only the Umno but the Malay culture which they have been claiming to have cherished all these years.

The Umno is melting down amid the party election heat like the melting down of Antarctica as a result of the global warming.