The Monarchs should stay above politics

Press Statement by Agora Society on 22 Nov 2018 in Kuala Lumpur

The Agora Society views with grave concern the recent trend in which sultans of the various states are increasingly involved in political affairs. Not only does it go against the role of the Malay rulers as the ceremonial figurehead under constitutional monarchy, it also undermines the fundamental spirit of democracy.

Given that a democratic society is one that is based on the rule of law, to acquiesce in the rule of man is to make a travesty of the principle of governed by consent under a democratic system. All policies and their amendments ought to be subject to deliberation and debate by elected lawmakers in the legislature before they can be implemented by the government. Any act that trivializes this democratic process runs counter to the collective will of the people.

We are of the opinion that the sultans are entitled to comment on government policies, but their views can only be acted upon after they have been reviewed and approved by the legislature or the government. Since independence, this democratic process has long been strictly adhered to at the federal and state levels, as manifest perfectly in the parliamentary debate on the Agung’s speech and the state assembly debate on the Sultan’s speech.

The article LV(1), (1A) and (2) of the Selangor State Constitution state crystal clear that the Sultan “shall act in accordance with the advice of the Executive Council”, except for several situations in which the Sultan is given discretionary power, including the appointment of a menteri besar, refusal to dissolve the state assembly, request for the Council of the Royal Court to deliberate on the special position of the Sultan or religious ceremonies, issues pertaining to the Sultan as the head of Islam or Malay customs, appointment of an heir to the throne, awarding of honours and dignities, as well as the maintenance of the royal palaces. Quite clearly, the state constitution does not provide for the Sultan to interfere directly in state or local government affairs.

It is precisely because we treasure the monarchs as the symbol of national unity that we consider it of paramount importance that they should stay above politics and avoid being drawn into conflicts over partisan interests. The monarchs should also maintain a neutral position that transcends all kinds of disputes so as to steer clear of even the smallest political mistake, for there is no better way to safeguard the reputation of the monarchs.

The decree by the Sultan of Selangor to remove the bilingual road signs in Shah Alam, the state capital, has indeed raised the issue as to whether the monarch has acted beyond constitutional jurisdiction. Recently, the Sultan of Johor also reprimanded Chan Wei Kjhan, an Iskandar Puteri local councillor, for issuing a bilingual letter. The Sultan’s warning that the said councillor should resign if he could not perform well represents another example of royal interference in politics.

The Agora Society would like to emphasise that every party should respect the autonomy of all the local authorities, including the multilingual policies that they have enacted. Be it the state government, federal government or the monarchs, none of them should interfere arbitrarily in the decisions made by local councils. Should any of the elected or non-elected institutions be dissatisfied with a certain local policy, they may seek to address it via the official channel by discussing with the local authorities, or challenge the said local policy in a judicial court and let the judiciary resolve the dispute.

Agora Society

Agora Society is a loose network of intellectuals, writers and activists who advance democratic progress in Malaysia through critical analyses and propositions based on the principles of democracy and good governance. Please visit our page at https://www.facebook.com/agora.msia or http://agoramalaysia.blogspot.com/ for more information

Reform requires not just proper politicians but proper institutions as well

Agora Society's Statement on 7 June 2019

(photo credit: NewMalaysianPost.com)

Agora Society is ready to give goodwill to whoever is appointed to helm key public institution, especially when the person is determined to reform Malaysia, and has a proven track record of performing his/her duty professionally, impartially and without fear or favour. Latheefa Koya, who is appointed as the new chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) generally fits the bill.

However, the process of her appointment, though it might be lawful as it is the prerogative of Prime Minister, lacks transparency and accountability. The Prime Minister himself has even conceded that the decision of appointing our new Chief of MACC is his alone.

Lest the government forgets, they were widely viewed as having taken Putrajaya on the slew of institutional reforms which they vehemently promised. Promise no. 14 of the manifesto has stated that the ‘appointment of these Commissioners must be validated democratically by Parliament.’ Other than that, promise no. 16 also spelled out that ‘key national positions such as appointments to the Human Rights Commission, Election Commission of Malaysia, the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission, and Judicial Appointments Commission must be approved by a suitable parliamentary committee. This will reduce the ability of the Prime Minister to intervene in these important appointments.’

We understood that the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on major public appointments is set up mainly for such purpose, and it was rather unfortunate that PSC was not even notified, never mind consulted. As it stands, the appointment of key official is still very much the same and we are worry about how much power are still in the hands of the Prime Minister without any check and balance. The new government should also be reminded by the fact that the previous government met its demise partly because of absolute power wielded by the previous Prime Minister which leads to a series of corruptible practices.

Furthermore, it is undeniable that the Prime Minister is appointing a MACC chief which was tainted by political partisanship, and it is a political appointment in any sense. Would the new MACC chief be courageous enough to investigate any of the Pakatan Harapan politicians - or even Mahathir himself – she is ostensibly associated with. Having said that, Latheefa would also alleged with political biasness if she chose to show leniency towards any politicians she favours, regardless if it is a correct or wrong call. Equally, investigating politicians that Latheefa has previously shown misgivings might give the public the impression of political revenge. To sum up, whoever was seen as a political appointee in key institution proves to be political divisive and lacks public legitimacy.

The role of the Major Public Appointments committee entails that any key public institutions’ candidates should be reviewed and vetted by the committee itself to ensure a check on executive appointments by the legislative. If the new government has no intention of allowing the committee to fulfil his task, we Malaysians should rightly wonder and question why the committee was created at the first place.

Also, if the government is committed about reform, they need to show their political will by going through the legislative process to amend the process of selecting and scrutinizing candidates to be more transparent and accountable. For example, the opinions of the committee and subsequently Parliament should be taken into account so that such appointment could command the confidence of the executive, parliament and the public. However, what the latest episode has shown was that the selection process was a unilateral decision made the Prime Minister himself.

As the saying goes, actions always speak louder than words. While we are heartened by the fact that the new MACC chief has proven to be a fighter against political corruption and a tireless human rights activist, yet we should equally be reserved until she has indeed performed well with the position she was appointed. Malaysia has been let down by many false dawns who had done so in the past, thus it is only logical the echoes of praises should be withheld for now.

If we could take one lesson from the previous General Elections, it is that Malaysians should no longer believe in rule of man, instead democratic institutions should be reformed, enhanced and protected to ensure no politicians could hold political power that was beyond his/her mandate. ‘Benevolent ruler’ politics is a thing of the past and as long as power corrupts, institutions must be always in place to check the power of the executives. Thus, it is imperative to urge the Pakatan Harapan to be serious in honouring the promises in the manifesto, especially those concerning institutional reforms to ensure proper check and balance among the 3 branches of power. Appointing 'good persons' alone by whip and fancy through the decision of Prime Minister alone might generate 'feel-good' factor only on to a narrow section of the public – especially those that are associated with the appointee. Yet a MACC chief should be accountable to all Malaysians and such appointment does not generate public confidence and it does not conceal the fact that such flawed appointment process harkens back to the days of BN where the Prime Minister’s authority and power is unchallengeable.

Agora Society

Agora Society is a loose network of intellectuals, writers and activists who advance democratic progress in Malaysia through critical analyses and propositions based on the principles of democracy and good governance. Please visit our page at http://www.facebook.com/agora.msia or http://agoramalaysia.blogspot.com/ for more information

Eliminate employment discrimination in all sectors, including discrimination in public services

Joint Press Statement by 5 Civil Society Organisations, March 13, 2019

5 civil society organisations urge the government to comprehensively eliminate employment discrimination in all economic sectors, rather than selectively eliminating discrimination in specific areas. This should include discriminatory practice in public services.

We support the statement of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Waytha moorty, who vowed to eliminate employment discrimination in the private sector, that "Malaysia should not have any form of discrimination.... I hope that employers will focus on uniting all ethnic groups through employment, because this will maximize our workforce."

But we would like to remind Waytha Moorthy that the government is the largest Malaysian employer which hires 1.7 million employees, which is 10% of the current 16 million labor force in the country. Eliminating employment discrimination by excluding the public service sector will raise doubts about selective justice. The current composition of public services and top civil servants completely fail to reflect the demographic of Malaysia.

全面消除就业歧视，包括公共服务歧视

五公民团体联合文告，2019年3月13日

五公民团体促请政府全面消除我国各领域的就业歧视（Employment discrimination），而非选择性的消除特定领域的歧视现象。消除就业歧视的政策必须在所有雇佣关系上一并执行，包括公共服务与私人界的雇佣关系。

我们支持首相署部长瓦塔穆迪欲消除私人界的就业歧视言论，也完全同意他所言--“马来西亚不应该有任何形式的歧视….我希望雇主专注于通过就业团结所有族群，因为这将最大化我们的劳动力”。

但我们欲提醒瓦塔穆迪，政府是我国最大的雇主，雇有1百70万个员工，也就是目前我国1千600万劳动力的10巴仙。消除就业歧视若不涵盖公共服务领域，将会引发选择性正义的质疑。目前的公共服务与高级公务员族群比率完全无法反映我国族群的人口结构。

Why the FundMyHome ‘property crowdfunding’ scheme is bad news

Press Statement by Agora Society on 11 November 2018 in Kuala Lumpur

The Agora Society has been closely following the Pakatan Harapan government’s commitment to provide affordable housing options to all, and is deeply concerned about the recently announced, government-backed P2P financing scheme ‘FundMyHome’ (described in the Budget 2019 speech as a ‘property crowdfunding’ platform). We feel that this scheme was rolled out too hastily and falls remarkably short of its purported priority of providing secure and stable long-term homeownership to aspiring first-time homeowners. While the prospect of moving into a, say, RM250,000 house – for five years – instantly with only a downpayment of RM50,000 (or 20%) might seem alluring at first glance, we are fearful that first time homeowners may be obscured from the scheme’s long-term implications.

For a start, buyers do not have full ownership of the property, and their rights as owner are only fully realized once they have fully paid for the property after the initial five-year period. According to our calculations, first-time homeowners intending to stay in the property for more than five years will be financially worse-off by the end of Year 5 (Figure 1). Row (f) of Table 1 and Figure 1 show that if the annual home value appreciation rate is 5% per annum, buyers would end up with an additional debt of RM37,911 relative to a scenario where they utilised a standard mortgage[1]. This additional debt figure rises to a staggering RM104,757, relative to a standard mortgage, if the annual home value appreciation rate is 10% per annum. This shows unequivocally that the price of refinancing – necessary to keep the house beyond the initial five-year period – is much higher than that of a standard mortgaged property. Buyers will need their household income to increase by at least 5.81%, or 1.19% in compound annual growth rate (CAGR), during the 5 years just to keep pace with the burgeoning home value. If a first time homeowner is not able to afford a standard mortgage for said property at the beginning, it is highly unlikely he or she will be able to afford a significantly higher refinancing cost five years later (see Rows (f) and (g) of Table 1).

Non-Malaysian residents should also be entitled to the unlimited Monthly Pass

Press Statement by Agora Society on 8 November 2018

The Agora Society welcomes the Pakatan Harapan government’s announcement in the recent Budget that unlimited monthly travel passes will be made available to commuters in January 2019. This represents a right step towards encouraging a greater use of public transport in the Klang Valley and reducing the cost of living of the lower income groups.

We are, however, dismayed by the statement of Anthony Loke, the Transport Minister, that the two versions of the Monthly Pass, one costing RM100 to be used on all Rapid Rail and bus services and the other for Rapid bus services only at RM50, are limited to Malaysian citizens only. The decision practically excludes a large number of non-Malaysians who have been making significant contribution to the Malaysian economy.

Migrant workers, for one, would stand to lose as compared to Malaysians despite that the Malaysian economy has benefited tremendously from migrant labour. In an October 2017 report Migrating to Opportunity, the World Bank stated that a 10% net increase in low-skilled migrant workers raised Malaysia’s real GDP by 1.1%, and cheaper migrant workers helped lower production costs which resulted in more output and created more employment.

非大马公民的居民亦应获无限次月票

群议社文告，2018年11月8日于吉隆坡 

希望联盟政府在最近的财政预算案宣布，从2019年1月份开始，公共交通乘客可享有无限次乘搭公交月票卡，群议社对此表示欢迎。在提升巴生谷公交使用率和减轻低收入阶层的生活负担方面，这无疑是向前迈进一步。 

然而，我们对于交通部长陆兆福的以下说法感到错愕：两种月票服务——分别是价格100令吉无限次乘搭捷运和巴士，以及50令吉无限次乘搭巴士——只限马来西亚公民可享有。该决定实际上排除了许多为大马经济作出显著贡献的非公民。 

首当其冲的就是移工，尽管大马经济因为他们而受益匪浅。在2017年10月份的报告《迁往机会》（Migrating to Opportunity）中，世界银行指出，10%净增加的低技术移工使大马的实际国内生产总值提高了1.1%，而且廉价移工有助减低生产成本，带来更高产量并制造更多就业机会。