Existing laws enough to curb hate speech, says govt

 

Deputy Home Minister Ismail Mohamed Said says the government will rely on laws such as the Sedition Act, the Penal Code and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 to curb offences related to race and religion.

KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya today said existing laws are sufficient to deal with offences related to race and religion.

Deputy Home Minister Ismail Mohamed Said told the Dewan Rakyat police would not hesitate to take action against individuals found to be committing such offences under the Sedition Act, the Penal Code and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA).

“We will improve the laws from time to time. Police will also continue to monitor the dissemination of information and take immediate action if it touches on religious and race sensitivities,” Ismail (BN-Kuala Krau) said.

He was responding to a question from Ramli Mohd Noor (BN-Cameron Highlands) on the government’s intention to amend laws to impose a stricter sentence on those who insult any religion.

Ramli also asked if the government had plans to enact such laws as the Anti-Discrimination Act, the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Act and the Religious and Racial Hatred Act, as mooted by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.

Ismail said the PH government had decided that the elements under the proposed laws could be included in the Sedition Act and the Penal Code.

388 complaints received over wage subsidy payments

The Dewan Rakyat was also told that Socso has received 388 complaints from employees who claimed their bosses misused the wage subsidy programme.

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said Sosco will suspend subsidy payments to employers found to be involved in false claims.

“Out of the 388 complaints, 232 are under investigation,” Saravanan (BN-Tapah) said in reply to a question from Charles Santiago’s (PH-Klang) on what action the ministry would take against bosses who refused to pay the wage subsidy to workers.

“Sosco also gave its cooperation to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to facilitate investigations in five related cases being probed by MACC,” he said.

To another question by Santiago if the wage subsidy could be paid directly to workers to prevent abuse, Saravanan said “we will look into it”. - FMT