PENAMPANG: There are certain issues concerning the civil service of the country which requires more effort to ensure the colours of Malaysia are reflected in the appointment of officers at all levels of administration.
Stating this yesterday, United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (Upko) president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said he will be delivering a speech on the subject at the Barisan Nasional Convention this Sunday as Upko has been assigned to speak on the subject.
“It has to be a civil service that should see the Orang Asli and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak working hand in hand with the Malays, the Indians and Chinese to man the delivery system of this country,” he said.
“There may of course be difference in the manpower provided by each community since population sizes vary. But the service must be a One Malaysian Civil Service,” he said at the Upko national convention at Sabah Cultural Center here yesterday.
According to Dompok, under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, there is reference to the special privileges of the Malays, the natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate rights of other races, but there is no mention of the Orang Asli.
He said the BN Government, when it obtains a two-third majority in the Parliament, should table an amendment to the Federal Constitution to put the Orang Asli alongside the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak.
“It is a gross oversight by those who drafted the Constitution, he said of the omission of Orang Asli.
“Lately there have been many things said about ‘Ketuanan Melayu’. It is a word to my mind that should not exist anymore. In Sabah, the last Tuan left in 1963 and in fact in Semenanjung, they should have left in 1957,” he said.
“Some have attempted to explain that the word does not have any connotation of racial superiority or claiming to be superior. Yet others have attempted to explain it away by saying that it refers to the position of the sultans and the rulers,” said Dompok.
Speaking before more than 3,000 delegates, the Upko president stressed that the explanation on the issue is still unsatisfactory because the rulers’ position as constitutional monarchs must certainly mean that they are rulers for all Malaysians and must therefore safeguard the rights of all the races in this country.
He said that is why the party must support all the more the One Malaysia policy which the Prime Minister has initiated.
“During our past conventions and congresses, I have spoken on the Rukunegara, the guiding principles of the nation and the Constitutional provisions which protect the legitimate rights of all Malaysians, including the choice and practice of their religious belief. In fact, ‘Belief in God” is the first tenet of the Rukunegara.
“Allow me to refer to the Kuala Lumpur High Court case where the Judge ruled in favour of the The Herald in the usage of the word ‘ Allah ‘. An appeal to the Court of Appeal has been lodged but the matter has not been addressed by the Court. It is high time that this matter be attended to by the Judiciary,” he said.
Dompok noted that over the last few years the Government had dwelt upon the predicament faced by family members of failed marriages where the husbands converted to Islam and took another wife.
The rights of the children and non-converting spouses must be protected and it is because of this that the proposed amendments to the Law Reform (Marriages & Divorce) Act 1976 were to be submitted to Parliament, he said.
“I would not go into the details of the proposed legislation. Enough for me to say that this Government has initiated something which could bring some relief to the victims of the existing laws.
“The Government, in a gesture of courtesy, brought the proposed amendments to the attention of the rulers before presenting them to Parliament. I think all of us here today have the greatest of respect for the rulers and the Yang di Pertuan Agong as the Fountain of Justice and the King for all Malaysians.
“However, it is not wrong for us to implore upon their Majesties to as soon as possible allow the law to be amended to bring redress to their aggrieved subjects,” he said.