Malaysian Bar Council
____________________________________

No. 13, 15 & 17, Leboh Pasar Besar, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 03-2031 3003 (Hunting Line) Fax: 03-2034 2825, 2026 1313, 2072 5818
E-mail: council@malaysianbar.org.my
Website: http://www.malaysianbar.org.my

PRESS STATEMENT

Malaysia a secular State

The statement made by the Deputy Prime Minister in this 50th year of
Merdeka that Malaysia has never been a secular state is startling as
it ignores the undisputed constitutional history of the country as
well as the social contract by which the multi racial and multi-
religious people of this nation came together.

The Federal Constitution was a carefully thought out, carefully
negotiated document that evolved after much debate and discussion.
Some historical context is necessary. In 1956, Tunku Abdul Rahman had
headed a Merdeka Mission to London to negotiate for independence. The
negotiations were conducted by 4 representatives of the Malay Rulers,
4 representatives of the then Alliance Government and representatives
of the British Government. The Reid Commission was then appointed to
draft a constitution for independent Malaya. The Reid Commission held
118 meetings in Malaya. It met a wide cross-section of people and
organisations and received 131 memoranda.

One of the striking features of the Reid Commission report and the
Federal Constitution is the inter-communal compromises. These
compromises were essentially the result of proposals set out in a
memorandum by the then Alliance party which had in turn been
vigorously debated over many months by a core group from UMNO, MCA,
and MIC under Tunku's chairmanship. The Alliance Memorandum referred
to the issue of religion as follows:

"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 religion, and shall not imply
that the State is not a secular State." (Emphasis added)

Subsequent to the issuance of the Reid Report, further reviews were
carried out by a Working Party that again consisted of
representatives from the Malay rulers, the Alliance party and the
British Government. The Alliance party set up its own sub-committee
chaired by its then deputy president, Datuk Abdul Razak. Again the
Alliance maintained its position that they had no intention of
creating a Muslim theocracy and that Malaya would be a secular State.
A white paper subsequently issued by the British Government in June
1957 confirmed this by stating "This will in no way affect the
present position of the Federation as a secular State".

Since then Tunku himself, respected Academics, and our own Supreme
Court in 1988 have reiterated in one way or another that we are a
secular State and not an Islamic State. Thus for more than 40 years
(until 2001), no-one had suggested that Malaysia is an Islamic State.

One has to only look at the Articles in the Federal Constitution, our
system of government and the administration of justice to know that
we are not an Islamic State. The Civil Courts set up under the
Constitution dispense secular justice on a daily basis to all the
citizens of this country. Secular law governs contracts, commerce,
international relations and trade and every aspect of the lives of a
citizen. Islamic law governs specific matters set out in the Federal
Constitution in relation to persons professing Islam.

In the context of our history and the Constitution itself that
proclaims its supremacy, it is the Bar Council's view that there is
no doubt whatsoever that Malaysia is a secular state and not an
Islamic state. It is noteworthy that the Prime Minister in his speech
delivered at the conference yesterday and in his propagating Islam
Hadhari has never referred to Malaysia as an Islamic State.

It is time that the proposition that Malaysia is not secular, (which
is a rewriting of the Constitution), be put to rest once and for all
and that there is due recognition and reaffirmation of the clear
legal and constitutional position that Malaysia is, and has always
been, a secular State.

Ambiga Sreenevasan
President
Malaysian Bar

18 July 2007

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