Rozmal Malakan views that the recent memo submitted by the nine non-Muslim ministers in the Prime Minister's Cabinet has been a uniting force for the Malay community. I think he views it as a positive thing. Malay show of unity has taken place at many times in the past, but frequently the factor which spurs such unity has been "threats" against the community. Take for example, The Malayan Union, 1946:
The Malays opposed the creation of the Union. The opposition was mainly due to the way Sir Harold MacMichael acquired the Sultans’ signatures, the erosion of the Sultans’ powers and the offering of citizenship to recent immigrants mainly the ethnic Chinese because their economic dominance was seen as a threat to the economic development of the Malays.
Now, in my mind, the nine Cabinet ministers are representatives of the people. Who else can raise issues in Parliament on behalf of the Rakyat? Framing the matter in a Muslim - non-Muslim context, or a Malay - non-Malay context, is character assassination. This memo is shot down even before it is considered on its merits -- an unfortunate turn of events, because the matter will continue to lodge itself in the Malaysian multi-cultural, multi-religious, landscape.
The Reader may wish to look at the case of PP v Mark Koding, where a Member of Parliament was convicted of sedition for suggesting the abolition of Chinese and Tamil vernacular language schools. This situation is different, because Chinese/Tamil vernacular language schools were part of the social contract when the inhabitants of the Federation of Malaya proclaimed Merdeka on 31st Aug, 1957. In this situation, Article 121(1A) was not part of the Merdeka social contract. Instead, it was hoisted upon the public, some twenty plus years after Merdeka, and made a reality.
Oh well... What would *you* have done if you were a non-Muslim minister in Parliament? Mr. Kayveas of PPP has called for the nine Ministers to resign.
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