In
rulers and their states. They figured out how to bring the states together in a federation while allowing the states to retain some of its identity and the power of the Sultans. Eventually, of course, this became part of the written constitution.”
Tun pointed out that the federation model has worked well for Malaysia:“ Malaysia can congratulate itself because it has made the federation model work despite having nine Sultans plus one Yang Di-Pertua Agong and despite states having to share their wealth and power. Malaysia has developed well, in some cases better than unitary states which gained Independence after the war, and could be the model for other states. There are many countries that are divided into districts or provinces and each may have their own head such as the governor of provinces in Japan, but they are still unitary in terms of systems of
Tuan Abdul Rahim Sinwan Vice President, Muslim Lawyers Association
“
When
the federation was proposed, the Sultans wanted certain terms to be complied with, and these terms became the basic structure of the Constitution. They dealt with: 1) the religion of Islam; 2) the preservation of the monarchy as an institution, 3) the land belonging to the states, 4) the Malay language or Bahasa Melayu and 5) Malay customs and practices.
Would amending the Constitution affect the rights of the Raja-raja Melayu? It’ s not easy to say. We do not have a Constitutional Court like in Indonesia and Thailand. What we have is the Federal Court. The legislative’ s duty is to legislate the law; the court’ s is to interpret the law. Laws which have been promulgated may sometimes be challenged. The challenge will be mounted in the Federal Court which will make the decision whether the law is constitutional or otherwise. That is the position in Malaysia.”
Professor Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican( Moderator)
“ fact, constitutional literacy is very important for every citizen. The least read document by Malaysian citizens( with the exception of the police and lawyers) must be the Federal Constitution! I remember in 1957 before we got independent, Kelantan and Penang had problems joining the Federation of Malaya. I speculated that Penang would secede from Malaysia one day. If that happens, then we’ d need passports to go to Penang!
Although Tun pointed out that secession is against the constitution, it is an unwritten agreement. There are provisions on changing borders( but not on secession). I would like to mention that Dr. Shamrahayu’ s latest book,“ Kontrak Sosial: Perlembagaan Persekutuan 1957 Pengikat Jati Diri Bangsa Malaysia Merdeka”, contains original documents from the Public Record Office of Kew Gardens, and is a good complement to our understanding of the federal constitution.”
PERDANA MAGAZINE 2016 11