Citizenship, Bahasa, the Constitution, and the Police Force

The IGP, Ismail Omar, will be retiring tomorrow. Do you know that many senior police officers do not think highly of him? That is because he is considered too lembut (soft) and he allows the Prime Minister to tell him what to do rather than the other way around. They are actually breathing a sigh of relief that he is finally retiring after being at the helm of the Royal Malaysian Police Force for almost three years.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Pensyarah Pusat Pengajian Sejarah, Politik dan Strategi UKM, Prof Mohammad Agus Yusoff, berkata mengikut Perlembangaan Perkara 28(2) menyatakan: “Tiada seorang pun yang dilahirkan di dalam Persekutuan boleh menurut kuasa Perkara ini dilucutkan kewarganegaraan di bawah Perkara 25.” Ini bermakna kerakyatan Anwar yang merupakan warganegara melalui kuat kuasa undang-undang sama sekali tidak boleh dilucutkan.(Harakah Daily)

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The ex-PKR Deputy Chief Minister of Penang wants Anwar Ibrahim’s citizenship to be withdrawn or cancelled. And he is not the first ex-PKR or ex-PAS leader to say this. A few others before this have said the same thing -- as have some Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders.

Now read what Prof Mohammad Agus Yusoff said in the Harakah Daily news item above. Basically, what he said is, you can’t do that. There is no provision in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia to withdraw or cancel the citizenship of someone born in Malaysia.

Now, what interests me here is: why is it that so many politicians who hold high office do not know this? This is downright shocking and shameful. Would you be given a driver’s licence if you did not pass your traffic laws test? You will be refused a licence if you do not know the traffic laws but yet you can become a wakil rakyat if you do not know the Constitution.

And steering the country is more important than steering a car, mind you.

I feel anyone who wants to become a wakil rakyat (people’s representative -- Member of Parliament and/or State Assemblyperson) should be first tested on his/her knowledge of the Constitution. If you do not know the Constitution you do not deserve to hold public office. This would avoid silly statements coming out of these people’s mouths.

And the other thing they should be tested on is their proficiency in the National Language, Bahasa Malaysia. Do you know that in some states if you cannot speak Bahasa Malaysia properly you will not get a Datukship or JP? Hence you should at least be able to speak the National Language before you should be allowed to sit in Parliament or in one of the State Assemblies -- which is more important than a Datukship or JP.

No, this is not meant as a racist comment. You do not need to be able to speak Bahasa Malaysia the way Pak Samad does. (To be honest, even I cannot understand Pak Samad’s puisi or sajak and I am sure 95% of you in the Pakatan Rakyat rally in Kuantan last night could not either). But at least you should have a fair command of the language.

In Wales, the Local Councils and the National Assembly for Wales (Welsh Parliament) conducts its business in Welsh -- the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages. No doubt all Welsh can speak English but English is not used as the official language of Wales. Hence if you cannot speak the National Language of Wales you are in deep shit. How to become a Welsh wakil rakyat or councillor? 

Gyda llaw, yr wyf yn codi'n gynnar bob dydd i weithio. (That means: “By the way, I get up early every day to work”.) Worse than Tamil, is it not? Anyway, if you want to sound Welsh all you need to do is to speak English with an Indian accent. That’s what I do when I want to sound Welsh. 

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Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar dilantik sebagai Ketua Polis Negara berkuatkuasa Jumaat (17 Mei) menggantikan Tan Sri Ismail Omar, yang akan tamat tempoh pelantikan secara kontrak selepas bersara pada 16 Mei ini. Menurut kenyataan Jabatan Perdana Menteri hari ini, Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Bukit Aman, Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin dilantik sebagai Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara berkuatkuasa pada hari yang sama. (Bernama)

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The IGP, Ismail Omar, will be retiring tomorrow. Do you know that many senior police officers do not think highly of him? That is because he is considered too lembut (soft) and he allows the Prime Minister to tell him what to do rather than the other way around. They are actually breathing a sigh of relief that he is finally retiring after being at the helm of the Royal Malaysian Police Force for almost three years.

Do you also know that in the past those who become the IGP had to serve a stint in the Special Branch? Then, a few IGPs ago, they started appointing IGPs from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) branch of the police force. And that, I believe, was when the standards of the police force began to decline. (That is my assumption, which, of course, cannot be proven).

Anyway, the two people who will be taking over as IGP and Deputy IGP respectively are Khalid Abu Bakar and Bakri Zinin. Now, these are two very ‘tough nuts’ compared to Ismail Omar. I may even be so bold as to declare them as ‘gangsters’ -- well, sort of, if you know what I mean (not in the literal sense, though).

Note that these two are, yet again, not from the Special Branch (or have served a stint in the Special Branch) but are from the CID as well. And this is why I feel we may be seeing some ‘problems’ ahead of us -- especially those who are planning rallies and demonstrations because both Khalid and Bakri are known to have a low tolerance for ‘anti-government’ activities.

Why are the IGPs and DIGPs that are selected from the CID (and not from the Special Branch) more ‘brutal’? I suspect this is because the Special Branch does not have direct interaction with the public but work ‘behind-the-scenes’ (mostly intelligence gathering) while the CID has to deal directly with criminals. Hence the IGPs and DIGPs from the Special Branch do things differently (more subtly) compared to those from the CID who are more brutal in their methods.

Anyway, those planning ‘street activities’ better be very careful. Ismail Omar was more lembut (much to the chagrin of the other officers) while Khalid and Bakri are ‘street brawlers’.

That is only my suspicion, but then I may be wrong like I was wrong about how many people would turn out for the post-May 5th rallies.