MALAYSIAN HISTORY - ARTICLE 152 & 153 OF MALAYSIAN CONSTITUTION

Are Malays Prepared to Forgo Their Special Privilege? - Part 1

by Kusha Basir

This article is the first series of a three-part article on Article 152 and 153 of the Federal Constitution. It is an introduction to what is arguably the most controversial part of our constitution. In Part 2 and 3, Malaysian Digest will be delving deeper into the subject. The Federal Constitution or Federation of Malaya was established in 1957 and it contains 183 articles. This constitution states Malaysia as a constitutional monarchy by having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State. It provides for the establishment and the organization of three main branches of the government, which is Parliament, the Executive branch headed by Prime Minister and the Judicial branch headed by the Federal Court. This document also defines the rights and responsibilities of the Federal Government, the member states of the federation and the citizens and their relations to each other. There are two articles in this document that always take a place and being the most controversial issues for debate among Malaysians especially non- Malays - Article 152 and Article 153. Article 152 of the constitution states Malay language as national language. However, everybody is free to learn and use other languages except on official purposes such as any purpose regards to the Government, Federal or State, and any purpose of a public authority. All court proceedings; parliamentary documents and meetings must be conducted in Malay. The issue of upholding the Malay language has taken place since Tun Razak’s days. We had changed our reference to the national language from Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia and back to Bahasa Melayu again. However in April 2007, Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin announced that the Cabinet had decided on to switch to Bahasa Malaysia since they believe on reverting to the term Bahasa Malaysia would help inculcate a sense of belonging for all citizens irrespective of race. He also added the Malay language belongs to Malaysians of all races and not just the Malays. The term Bahasa Malaysia was introduced by Tunku Abdul Rahman after the country's independence to inculcate a Malaysian identity and instil a sense of belonging The controversial issue about Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics in English also known as Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) also brought significant impact towards this Article 152. When the cabinet decided to replace our national language as lingua franca for Science and Mathematics subject for all levels of education. This new policy became the most popular issue for debate not only in parliament, among scholars and educationists, but also among the Malaysian public. However, through studies, researches, discussions and feedbacks from the rakyat, the cabinet has decided to abolish PPSMI in 2012 as announced by Education Minister (who is now also the Deputy Prime Minister) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in July 2009. Both of these issues exemplifies how Malaysians, especially Malays, are sincerely concerned about maintaining Bahasa Malaysia as our national language. This, however, is not about denying the right of other races in using their respective languages. The main objective is to retain and appreciate what we have based on the sacrifices made by the late Tuanku Abdul Rahman and other previous leaders who had fought for the right to give the Malay language the status it rightly deserves. With regards to Article 153 of the Constitution, Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) is responsible for protecting the special position of the Malay and indigenous people of any of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities. In the interest of ‘protecting the special position’, the administration ascertain quotas for entry into the civil service, public scholarships and public education. The purpose of this article is to protect the indigenous people from being overwhelmed by the immigration of Chinese and Indian workers into Malaya seeing as these two groups were pretty much dominating the economic sector during that time. In history, the Chinese were dominant in the mining sector and they became the richest residents and this is followed by Indians that were major influences in estate and rubber sectors. Unfortunately, in those days particularly, Malays only had for themselves a very niche corners in farming. This clearly indicates how Malays are poor and lagging behind in their own country because of the rules and order made by the British before we gained independence. Therefore, in order to rebuild the new economic system and to give opportunity to every ethnic groups to be treated equally, the government has implemented a new policy which is known as the New Economic Policy (NEP or DEB for Dasar Ekonomi Baru). The purpose of this policy is to eradicate poverty among rural communities. NEP is a controversial socio-economic restructuring affirmative action program launched by the Malaysian government in 1971 under Tun Abdul Razak. Through this policy, government aims to achieve at least 300 percent share for Malays and Bumiputra in economic sector since they are ‘origins people’ in Malaysia and used to have special position. As a result, there have been lots of debates, arguments and dissatisfaction among communities especially non-Malays in regards to Article 153. To be continued… Courtesy of Malaysian Digest