Note: Today is Nasiha's birthday. God bless you. God bless us.
The National Day is just round the corner. As usual, citizens are all busy displaying the Malaysian flag somewhere within their own home compounds, at all time making sure their Jalur Gemilang are always waved. Always as it is, every year the federation public holiday is a day that people always look forward. To some, the day is indeed a much awaited moment. It is looked as something which is significant in recalling the great moments of joy. Moments when the almarhum Tunku proclaimed enthusiastically with his strong and firm voice, “Merdeka!” for seven times on August 31, 1957 at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.Recalling the historical episode, the Federation of Malaya Agreement (1957) – which was signed by the High Commissioner, Sir Donald MacGillivray, on behalf of the Queen, and the Rulers, in Kuala Lumpur on August 5 – marked the end of Malaya’s connection with Britain ever since Malacca and Penang were under the Crown for more than 150 years.The preamble to the Agreement said representations had been made to the Queen and to the Rulers that “fresh arrangements should be made for the peace, order and good government of the territories within the Federation.”Article three says:“As from August 31, 1957, the Malay states and the settlements (11 states) shall be formed into a new Federation of states by the name of Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, or, in English, the Federation of Malay.”Consequently, the treaty of 1948 that resulted in the formation of a Federation was revoked and the Queen ceased to exercise sovereignty over Penang and Malacca. At the same time all the power and jurisdiction over the Federation came to an end.The new Constitution - in the form of Perlembagaan Persekutuan or federal Constitution today – is based on Parliamentary democracy, with a bicameral legislature. It also lays down that Islam is the religion of the Federation, while Malay is the national language.Under the Constitution, the Yang Di Pertuan Agong is a constitutional ruler. His Majesty must act on the advice of his Ministers with two important exceptions, i.e.: he acts in his discretion in appointing the Prime Minister; and he may withhold consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament.As agreed, the Parliament will consist of two Houses, the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives. Subjects for legislation are set out in a Federal List, a Concurrent List – on which the Federal and State Legislatures may legislate – and a State List. Federal law will prevail if inconcistencies arises. Residual legislative power, however, lies with the States. Currently, the areas or subject matters that fall within the authorities – Federal, State or Concurrent List – are provided by the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.The Declaration of Independence which was adopted on August 31, 1957 had announced the birth of a new nation within a Malay-Muslim polity system, which is part of the Nusantara, that is the Malay archipelago. More importantly, the Declaration also set forth a philosophy of nationalism. Prior to the “Social Contract’ agreement which was agreed and signed by all community leaders, the entire nation then hold the special characteristic of nationality with which they identify culturally, economically and politically.The fact that this nation relies heavily on this unique condition is very well noted in the early history of Malaya. Swettenham (A History of Selangor 1766-1939 (1998) Kuala Lumpur: MBRAS Monograph No, 28) and Gullick (Malay Society in the late Nineteenth Century – the Beginnings of Change (1987) Singapore: OUP), two of many influential figures in Malaysian history have rightly pointed out that the political landscape of the Malay-Muslim world has indeed been harmonised by the integration of multi-ethnic social and political values that has nevertheless promoted awareness and understanding of each other’s sensitivity.They state further that such an understanding has not only brought about peace and order in the Malay-Muslim world, but also sowed and nurtured seeds of tolerance among the entire community. As such, sensitivities of people of all races were observed, noted and recognised. An understanding of each others sensitivities then, served as an invaluable recipe in safeguarding and preserving the foundation of the nation polity.Certainly, this is one of the critical ingredients that led the country to independent. At times where uncertainties seemed to be the main issue in the political landscape of the nation, the policy of ‘togetherness’ remained to be practically adopted by all people in the state. In other words, it is the local way, ’the Malay-Muslim polity way’ – which is based on tolerance and understanding that has been observed functioning as a precious mechanism in maintaining the country’s stability and peace.Today, it is the same policy and spirit that governs the country’s polity system. As such, it would be a very sad thing if there is just any one individual who does not understand and appreciate the history of the Malay-Muslim world has the nerve to question its relevancy out of his or her ignorant, as Diane K. Mauzy (1988:213) concludes it exceedingly well,”While the formal processes of politics, namely elections and parliamentary rule, are based on the Western democratic model of majority rule, the informal processes have always been guided by the ”Malay way”. This has been so within the dominant party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and its relations with its predominantly non-Malay coalition partners. It has served to soften the steely aspects of the real world of political fights, and has made ethnic accomodation, under the dominance of the Malays, possible.”The moment independent was achieved, the rising and future development of this newly independent state so-called Malaya and later on, Malaysia (in 1963), was observed closely not only by its own people, but also its neighbouring countries. We have had problems with our neighbours over some issues such as ideological differences. But we managed to overcome almost all of the difficulties, thanks to the wisdom of our forefathers.In view of this, one of the issues during the initial set up of the country’s government was the role and responsibility of prime minister. A full independent granted to Tanah Melayu was perceived not without mixed feelings from the people. Among Malay leaders themselves, there were some who were quite skeptical of the idea of having a full independent. Reasons were varied. Some believed that it was simply not the correct time for the Tanah Melayu to be left unguided to venture into the journey towards self-government for the people were not ready to be on their own, not without British guidance and protection. As such psychological inferior was all that matters in the course of transforming the Tanah Melayu into a nation.Questions pertaining to the ability of the main components of government – the prime ministership in particular – to carry out several fundamental tasks of ways of governing the country according to ‘Tanah Melayu way’ were nevertheless, disturbing. For instance, should the Prime Minister of Malaya assumes roles such as those carried out by the Prime Minister of Britain? Or perhaps is the office of the President of the U.S.A serves as the most suitable model that Malaya should consider emulate from? It is perhaps useful to compare, though briefly, between roles of a president with that of a prime minister. In the US, presidential responsibilities are numerous and diverse and said to be ‘very real and demanding’ that it has become almost virtually certain that no occupant of the office will ever perform all of them well. In principle, the roles of a President are revolved on his or her ability to act as ‘the great leader’ that only “Superman” can actually surpass him. The roles, as outlined by Everett Carl Ladd in his book, “The American Polity” (1989:215) are many, which include the President role as the ‘world leader’!The prime minister, who is appointed by the Paramount Ruler – the Yang Di Pertuan Agong – serves out his five-year term until the coming of the general election. Provided that the governing party secures victory with clear majority in that general election, the prime minister’s term will be extended for at least another five years and continues to be so until he decided to step down or if the party fails to secure a clear majority votes in the general election.The prime minister is invariably the leader of the largest party in the Dewan Rakyat, the elected lower house of Parliament. He heads the Cabinet of Malaysia, whose members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the prime minister's advice. Since independence in 1957 the prime minister has been from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest component party of the Barisan Nasional or National FrontSince independent, all the prime ministers roles continued to be very challenging and demanding. The prime minister, in general, plays the largest part in the national prime development agenda of maintaining or extending the nation’s economic well-being. He serves as the head of government and take charge of as many roles as possible concerning the nation’s security as a whole within his capacity as the Chief Executive of the government. Thus, the prime minister not only looks after the economic and social well-being in general, but also as the chief administrator of the Federal Government who administers the system that uniquely governs a multi-ethnic society. Apart from that, the prime minister is also expected to perform many other roles that can be regarded as an extraordinary array of leadership skills such as the external political skills, effective campaigner as well as a great communicator.Today, this nation has a population of more than 26.64 million. The outstanding characteristic of Malaysia’s population today is its highly variegated ethnic mix that makes it one of the prime examples of an ideal multi-racial society in the whole world. Consisting of the Malays, Chinese, Indians and other indigenous groups, with its multiethnic composition of the population, Malaysia’s culture and religious practices remain diverse. Even though different cultures and religions exist, except for the ugly dent in the form of a multiracial conflict in 1969, Malaysians have all put up with each other and developed a very tolerant society. Today, everybody appreciates and shares each other’s differences and similarities.
At this point, it is perhaps appropriate to reflect, yet again every time August is here, the moment when almarhun Tunku, after coming back from the London agreement in February 1956, decided not to use the formal words “if possible” when he proclaimed independence in Melaka. Instead he opted to say “If God permits”. The following day (February 21, 1956), The Straits Times newspaper frontpaged this: “M-Day 1957 August 31 ‘If God pemits” and “’If possible’ clause not mentioned’.
