Regarding Sivakumar's Powers...

[Found this note in Facebook by Azira Aziz]

Under Article 72 of the Federal Constitution, the privileges of Legislative Assembly are as follows:-

Article 72. Privileges of Legislative Assembly.

(1) The validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court.

(2) No person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him when taking part in proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of any State or of any committee thereof.

(3) No person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything published by or under the authority of the Legislative Assembly of any State.

(4) Clause (2) shall not apply to any person charged with an offence under the law passed by Parliament under Clause (4) of Article 10 or with an offence under the Sedition Act 1948 as amended by the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No. 45, 1970.

(5) Notwithstanding Clause (4), no person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said by him of the Ruler of any State when taking part in any proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of any State or any committee thereof except where he advocates the abolition of the Ruler's position as the constitutional Ruler of that State.

You won't need a legal counsel to help you understand the above, do you? The implication's quite simple. The Federal Court can blab their declarations (note: not binding judgement) 'till Kingdom Come, and it's still considered as 'advisory' since the above excerpt came from the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, supreme law of the land, etc.

Somebody's getting paid, BIG time.

设立宪制法庭当务之急

300 protest Bar's 'conversion' forum

[Taken from Malaysiakini.com]
Aug 9, 08 9:41am

About 300 protesters have gathered outside Bar Council headquarters demanding that the lawyers group halt its controversial forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’ this morning.

The Bar Council today, adhereing to the advice of the police - and an angry mob at its doorstep - wrapped up its half-day forum on 'Conversion to Islam' at 10am, an hour after it had started.

Earlier about 300 protesters have gathered outside Bar Council headquarters demanding that the lawyers group halt its controversial forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’.

A leader of the protesters - PKR Kulim-Bandar Baharu parliamentarian Zulkifli Noordin - declared the abrupt end of the forum as a victory for them. By 10.40am, most of the protesters have dispersed.

The open forum on the sensitive religious issue kicked off at 9am but angry protestors have given organisers half an hour to cancel the event.

About 15 police officers and an Federal Reserve Unit truck have been deployed to the area and the road leading to the Bar Council office where the forum is held has been closed.

In the bid to diffuse the situation, the police have told Bar Council to wrap up its forum by 10am.

The protesters, many of whom are from Muslim welfare organsation Perkida and Islamic party PAS, shouted, “Hancur Bar Council” (Crush Bar Council), “Hidup Islam” (Long Live Islam) and “Batal forum” (Cancel the forum).

They are carrying placards saying “Jangan cabar Islam” (Don’t challenge Islam) and “Bar Council, Don’t play with fire”.

Among the protest leaders seen in the crowd are PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub and Zulkifli.

The protesters, many of whom came just before the forum began, later decided to sit down in front of the Bar Council building and vowed that they would not budge until the event had been cancelled.

Some threatened to storm the building to physically stop the forum.

One speaker pull out

Among the speakers at the forum was syariah lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla. Mohd Haniff represented the Federal Territory’s Islamic Religious Council in the case of R Subashini. K Shanmuga and Ravi Nekoo, who were counsel for Subashini and S Shamala, respectively, also spoke.

The forum is moderated by Zarizana Abdul Aziz of the Women's Centre for Change.

However, one speaker has pull out - former Syariah judge and currently the Federal Territory Islamic Department’s syariah prosecutor Dr Mohd Naim Mokhtar.

Syed Hamid Albar on BBC Hardtalk

For those who missed the fantastic program or do not subscribe to BBC/Astro, you can view the whole interview online here.

Below are some intro from BBC website:

In a HardTalk programme first broadcast on Thursday 13 September 2007, Sarah
Montague talks to Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Malaysia has just marked fifty years of independence, and there's much
to celebrate.

Living standards have improved immeasurably over the past
five decades, illiteracy has been virtually eradicated and the economy is doing
well.

But do Indian and Chinese Malaysians have as much to celebrate as
the Malay population?

Sarah Montague talks to Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar
about whether the law giving preferential treatment to Malay and other
indigenous groups is now outdated.

HARDtalk can be seen on BBC World at
03:30h GMT (not Asia), 08:30h GMT, 14:30h GMT, 20:30h GMT, 23:30h GMT (not Asia)

It can also be seen on BBC News 24 at 0430 and 2330.

Watch what Tunku proclaimed, what PM and TPM said...

INVITATION to Parliamentary Roundtable to reaffirm Merdeka social contract

Open invitation from YB Lim Kit Siang:

INVITATION to Parliamentary Roundtable on Friday 10th August 2007 to reaffirm Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement on the occasion of 50th Merdeka anniversary that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as official religion and not an Islamic state
__________________________________________________________

When Malaya achieved independence in 1957 and Malaysia was formed six years later in 1963, a national social compact was reached that the nation shall be a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic State.

The Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state was given expression in the Federal Constitution, articulated by the founding fathers of the nation including the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein and given full recognition by the highest court in the land.

For over four decades, there was national consensus of the secular character of Malaysian nation-building which was only disrupted in the past six years, raising questions about the national commitment to protect and sustain this fundamental cornerstone of Malaysian nation-building.

A Parliamentary Roundtable to reaffirm that the Merdeka social contract and the Malaysia Agreement that the nation is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state is being convened in Parliament on Friday, 10th August 2007 at 10 am. (Bilik Taklimat)

This is to send out a clear and unequivocal message on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary of the nation in 2007 that the Merdeka social contract and the Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state must continue to be the bedrock of the Malaysian nation-building process.

You are invited to the Parliamentary Roundtable to endorse the reaffirmation of the Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state.

I apologise for the shortness of time. Kindly inform my office of your ability to accept this invitation or your representative to the Parliamentary Roundtable by Wednesday, 8th August 2007. (Contact person Lau Weng San 016-3231563, 03-79578022, Wong Choy Onn, 016-2681483).

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

(Lim Kit Siang)
Opposition Leader,
Parliament