Wednesday, September 13, 2017

A Parliament long gone

Malaysiakini - The Parliament we once had (extracts):


not the physical building but
the system of Westminster Parliamentary Democracy

Author of article, N Nadeswaran recalled the episode of former Education Minister, Abdul Rahman Talib, who resigned as a politician because he was caught in a corruption case by D.R Seenivasagam of the PPP (the original, wakakaka, not the current joke of a political party).


D.R Seenivasagam - Tai-Koe of Kinta Valley

not even the DAP could touch him

Nadeswaran lamented that the days of such of honour and decency (even a wee iota), that of a minister resigning when found wrong, have long gone.

Now we have instead arseholes who created Lowyat2 and Taylor-College2 with taxpayers' money for their own bigoted self interests, or a clown who wanted to make Penang a federal Territory (much against the Constitution) so that he could dispossess the federal Opposition Pakatan from running a state government - that midget of a f**king minister from a 17,000-vote federal constituency.


Genesis of Lowyat2 

Nadeswaran also informed us ... The Westminster system it adopted saw a thriving democracy.

Members were witty and could think on their feet and parliamentary sessions were lively. After the debates, members from both sides of the divide and ministers, their aides and reporters would adjourn to the Parliament bar where they would banter over beers and stenghas without any inhibitions. There were even cigarettes specially packed for parliamentarians!

Well, my dear Nadeswaran, beers let alone stengahs (not 'stenghas' as it has appeared in Malaysiakini) had been out since 2002 when "someone" (wakakaka) declared Malaysia a fundamentalist Islamic nation.

Even the much sacrosanct bars (watering holes) in the Armed Forces Officers and Sergeants' Messes have morphed into soft-drink vending machines standing in dusty corners of those once-glorious military clubs.


Lim Kit Siang at that time was so incensed by "someone's" arbitary bullshit that he wrote his renowned 929 & 617 Declarations in which he "then" raved:

When did the Cabinet make this radical policy shift to declare Malaysia as a fundamentalist Islamic State, going against the 1957 Merdeka Constitution, the “social contract” of the major communities and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a democratic, secular and multi-religious nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic State?

It is both sad and most shocking that the Prime Minister and all the Cabinet Ministers are not setting the good example of respecting and upholding the historical, political, legal and constitutional principles of the Malaysian nation by unilaterally, arbitrarily and unconstitutionally declaring Malaysia as an Islamic fundamentalist state.

The Reid Constitution Commission Report 1957, which recommended the form of constitution we should have, stated that there was “universal agreement” that “any statement in the Constitution to the effect that Islam should be the State religion… would not in any way affect the civil rights of non-Muslims”.

It stated:

“In the memorandum submitted by the Alliance it was stated the religion of Malaya shall be Islam. The observance of this principle shall not impose any disability on non-Muslim nationals professing and practising their own religions and shall not imply that the State is not a secular state.”

Bapa Malaysia and the nation’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman confirmed this and declared in the Legislative Council in 1958:

“I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic State as it is generally understood; we merely provide that Islam shall be the official religion of the State.”

The position of the constitutional cornerstone that Malaysia is a secular and not a Islamic state was further reinforced in the negotiations for the formation of Malaysia in 1963, as Sabahans and Sarawakians were assured that Article 3 of the Constitution "does not imply that Malaysia is not a secular state." (Cobbold Commission Report).

The fundamental constitutional principle that Malaysia is a secular nation has been upheld by the highest court in the land in Che Omar bin Che Soh vs Public Prosecutor (1988).



But Lim Kit Siang today sings a f**king different tune, which so disgusts Malaysiakini columnist P Thayaparan (naval commander retired) because of Lim KS's pampering of Islam as a justified religion of the Malaysian political state, in spite of our nation's secular status.

Most certainly, our Parliament is no longer the true Westminster model since 1981 when "someone" went on a lonesome dictatorial havoc to fulfil his psychological hangups.




6 comments:

  1. http://thediplomat.com/2017/08/us-vietnam-defense-relations-under-trump-get-a-boost-with-first-aircraft-carrier-visit/

    It was announced last month that a US Navy Aircraft Carrier will make a port visit to Vietnam next year. With a full welcome band expected .

    Is Vietnam being hypocrites ? Are they disrespecting the sacrifices of millions of their dead in the war against the Americans ?

    Answer is No.
    Vietnam has not denied or retracted any of struggle against the Americans during the Vietnam war.

    The current relations are transactional. Today, Vietnam needs the Americans on its side in facing the expansionist giant to the north, China.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-Dash_Line

    If China gets its way with its Nine-Dash-Line claims, Vietnam's entire coastline would be surrounded by China territorial waters, which is a totally untenable situation.

    In politics, as with relations between nations, there are no permanent enemies, no permanent friends.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Many things are not the same in Malaysia and worldwide since the time you refer to.

    My late father was a police officer and they had drinks at the police mess back in the late 1950s and 60s. I was a small boy then but remember all that.

    Back in the 1980s, the head of the IT department at the Malaysian International Shipping Corp took me up to their restaurant/bar on the top floor and we had a few beers. That was before MISC was privatised, corporatised or whatever under you know who's son.

    Back in the early 1970s, University Malaya had a beer house at its annual Pesta Konvo, with the beer house built on a platform floating on the lake in the middle of the campus. That was before the massive student protests which led to the police raiding the university and the University and University Colleges Act.

    That said, in the UK, MPs have recently been hauled up for misclaiming expenses for maintenance of their official residences. Never heard of such cases of corruption, albeit relatively minor back in the 1970s.

    Let's not forget that during his time in the Cabinet, Anwar Ibrahim was responsible for some of these changes which we lament.

    I don't expect we can hold out any hopes that Malaysia will revert back to the good ole days even if Pakatan wins the Federal Government in GE14 or subsequent GEs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. unfortunately unlikely since the Pandora's Box was opened in 2002

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    2. most non muslim r fine with the 2002 version of islamic state, but not the case with najib version that come with 355. n y u keep refering to lks since he is not a trustworthy politician? or as usual u cite whatever that suit yr intention to please najib? aiyoo u dun feel malu kah?

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    3. not when criticism has been made by a silly bugger like you, wakakaka

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    4. KT, pandai nya you lament on the those gone-days of glorious past. Just like I am now lamenting of on those glorious days when KT would sally forth fearlessly and bravely slashing down the corrupts and hypocrites from both sides of the political divide. Now, for all his outrage and umbrage at injustice....is like this very apt Malay saying - nila setitik, rosak sebelanga !

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