THE CICAK.com

Wacky Malaysian laws

By KEITH LEONG

Did you know that Kedah is still paid RM10,000 a year for its ceding of Penang and Seberang Perai to the British? Or that the punishment diet for ISA detainees is bread and cheese? For all you JAG fans out there, a Malaysian soldier accused of desertion can avoid court-martial by confessing to the charge.

These are just a few of the sometimes amusing or zany, but always interesting, aspects of our laws.

I’m aware of this because I love reading legal statutes.

Perhaps this is because I aced law in my A-Levels exams. More importantly, I realise that citizens who are ignorant of the legal system could lose their liberty and more. So I’ve made it a point to read up on the laws of Malaysia and other countries.

All of the educational institutions I’ve been to since secondary school have the resources to facilitate this. For instance, the libraries at Taylor’s College and UNSW has the entire set of Halsbury’s magnificent Laws of England. Go to any MPH and you’ll find stacks of Malaysian Acts of Parliament published by ILBS and other organisations.

It’s distressing, however, that many Malaysians don’t know the country’s laws. Of course, everyone is aware of the most publicised legislation like the Internal Security Act (ISA), yet ask him or her if they’ve read the actual text of any law and the probable response will be an incredulous stare. It doesn’t help, I concede that there’s not much awareness where these statutes can be found and that most of them are crouched in legal terms that most laymen will find obscure. But as the Cornish proverb states, “the tongue-less man gets his land took.”

I do remember the Constitution being mentioned in History class at school and actual sections of it (mostly dealing with prohibitions on questioning You Know What) being reproduced in our textbooks. Still, there was precious little encouragement for us to go out and independently research it. There seems to be no incentives for legal literacy among Malaysians, save for lawyers and civil servants.

It occurred to me lately that reading our statutes, especially the older laws, still gives people a sense of how they are still tied to the Commonwealth legal system, despite our government’s earnest anti-imperialist stance. We also get a feeling of what a different country Malaysia was, and how both the good and bad elements of those times have disappeared yet lingered on.

Take for instance, the Police Act 1967 and its Rules & Regulations. It’s an example of how many archaic terms or usages still remain in our law books. There are references to “Punjabi Musselmans” (read Indian Muslims), “expatriate” (read British) and Indian, Pakistani and “Ceylonese” (read Sri Lankan) officers.

I suppose it’s a reminder of the time when our police force was more multi-racial. Several of the regulations seem to have passed before Independence, hence the “Police (Dress) Regulations 1954″ instructs retired officers who desire the right to wear their uniforms for ceremonial occasions to apply to Her Majesty Elizabeth II, through the High Commissioner, who is now merely the British ambassador but was at that time the head of the British administration here.

Our police force has come under a lot of negative scrutiny lately. You can’t help but wonder if any of their supposed shortcomings has something to do with the fact that the legislation that governs them seems hopelessly outdated, or “ketinggalan zaman.” It would be rather unfair to fault the police for anything if such a narrow framework does indeed limit them. But then again, this is just one of many delightful quirks of our nations “undang-undang!”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there’s more to Malaysia then meets the eye. Perhaps the Ministry of Education should consider introducing some form of legal studies class for schoolchildren, even though a proposal for a Constitutional Studies subject was shot down a while ago.

Citizens who know their rights and responsibilities are an asset to the nation.

—
KEITH LEONG is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

He was born in Melaka, grew up in Damansara Jaya and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He enjoys baroque music, grand epic movies and long walks. He still lives and works in Damansara Jaya.