Article 153 is not about rights but it is a

constitutional provision which should not be

questioned.•Nur Amanina Omar•Asyafiqah Ahmad

Halimaton Saadiah Abu SamahAmiera Fasya

Definition

Bumiputra •Concept is coined by Tunku Abdul Rahman•Special recognition of the Malays given by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

Constitution •Does not actually use the term Bumiputra

Proposal •Broader the definition of Bumiputra to include such Thai people, Muslim Indian Malaysians, Straits Chinese (Peranakan), Kristang people.

History• The term of this special position has been; the Reid

Commision which draft the constitution initially proposed that Art.153 expire after 15 years unless renewed by the Parliament of Malaysia.

• The Reid Commission specified that the intent of Article 153 was to address the imbalance between the Chinese and Malays in terms of economic equity.

• After the May 13 incident in 1969 there was an argument within the government concerning whether the special position of the Bumiputras ought to have a sunset clause.

Policy

•Most of them were established in the Malaysian New Economic Policy 1971. (NEP)

NEP launch

•Poverty eradication and economic restructuring so as to eliminate the identification of ethnicity with economic function.NEP goal

•The NEP targeted a 30% share of the economy for the Bumiputra, but according to official government statistics, the NEP did not succeed in reaching this target.

NEP results

Rights or Constitution Provision?• Read through the Constitution to look for an answer to these

Malay "rights", perhaps the first thing that has struck you is that familiar terminologies such as Malay "special rights", Malay "special privileges" or Malay "rights" are no where to be found in the Constitution.

• The provisions favouring Malays are in fact quite moderate, and certain.

• Similarly, those provisions protecting the non-Malays as acounter-balance to the special position of the Malays under the same Article 153 are also surprisingly quite well conceived and fair.

Controversy over Art.153unfair and border on outright racism

they undermined national unity and integration and lowered competitiveness all round

The center of controversy provides for what is popularly known as Malay "privileges".

The Orang Asli of peninsular Malaysia are not considered Bumiputra under the Federal constitution

Early debate• Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew publicly questioned

the need for Article 153 in Parliament, and called for a Malaysian Malaysia.

• The tension led to the 1964 racial riots. Eventually, the Tunku decided to ask Singapore, through Lee and some of his closest confidantes, to secede from Malaysia. Eventually, Lee agreed to do so, and Singapore became an independent nation in 1965.

• Constitution of Singapore contains an article, Article 152, that names the Malays as "indigenous people" of Singapore and therefore requiring special safeguarding of their rights and privileges as such. However, the article specifies no policies for such safeguarding.

Art.153 Clause (1)• "It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to

safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article".

• Note the deliberate use of the words "safeguard" and "specialposition" (instead of "special rights" or "special privileges"). The choice of these words must be understood in the historical context of the drafting of this Constitution half a century ago when Malays were economically and educationally backward in relation to other races. It was thought fit and proper then that there must be "safeguards" to protect the Malays from being swarmed over by other races.

Art.153 Clause (2)• Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall safeguard the

special position of the Malays by reserving positions "of such proportion as he may deem reasonable" in

a) the public service b) educational facilities and c)business licenses.

Art.153 Clause (3) & (6)

• Yang di-Pertuan Agong may, for purpose offulfilling Clause (2), give general directions to the relevant authorities,which shall then duly comply.

Art.153 Clause (8)

• There is a separate clause covering the allocation of seats in tertiary education - Clause (8A). It says that where there are insufficient placesfor any particular course of study, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may give directions for the "reservation of such proportion of such places for Malays as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may deem reasonable; and the authority shallduly comply with the directions."

Art.153 Clause (5) & (9)

• As for the protection of non-Malays against possible encroachment of their existing interests, there are several provisions under different clauses in this Article, prohibiting the deprivation of the existing facilities enjoyed by them, whether in public service, education or trading licenses. Of these protective clauses, Clauses (5) and (9) are particularly significant.

• Clause (5) consists of one sentence, which reads: "This Article does not derogate from the provisions of Article 136".

• Clause (9) consists of one sentence, which reads: "Nothing in this Article shall empower Parliament to restrict business or trade solely for the purpose of reservations for Malays."

Art.136

• Article 136 also consists of one sentence, which reads: "All persons of whatever race in the same grade in the service of the Federation shall, subject to the terms and conditions of their employment, be treated impartially."

Art.8 Clause (1) & (2)

• Clause (1) states:"All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.“

• Clause (2) states: "Except as expressly authorized by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law or in the appointment to any office or employment under a public authority or in the administration of any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment."

Conclusion

1. The present clamour for Malay "special rights" as sacrosanct racial privileges of a privileged race, especially under the ideological ambit of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay the master race), is in conflict with the letters andspirit of the Constitution.

2. The special position of the Malays as prescribed under Article 153 of the Constitution is limited in scope to only the reservation of reasonable quotas in these 3 sectors: public services, educational places and business licenses.

3) Our Constitution provides for only one class of citizenship and all citizens are equal before the law. The presence of Article 153 does not alter this fact, as it is meant only to protect the Malays from being "squeezed" by other races by allowing the reservation of reasonable quotas on certain sectors of national life.

THE END