Thesun 2009-03-06 Page01 Speaker Sivakumar Fails Again

Member of Audit Bureau of Circulations (Malaysia)

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No. 4711 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Friday March 6, 2009

TELLING IT AS IT IS

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KANGAR: The Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail, said yesterday the dignity of the Malay rulers needed to be protected at a time when issues that touched on the power of the rulers and the social contract were being raised. He said the rulers had a role of protecting all citizens regardless of race, religion and political affiliation, and this noble role should be preserved. Opening a special seminar on the Federal Constitution organised by the state government here, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin said there had been groups questioning the social contract, which had actually contributed to the achievement of independence in 1957. He said the social contract, which aimed at ensuring racial harmony, was not in the form of a document to show as proof but it definitely existed. “I believe that if we can appreciate and understand it (social contract), those with vested interest and their narrow agenda, by playing up sensitive issues, will fail to achieve their aim,” he told about 500 senior state government officials and heads of departments and agencies. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin said Malaysia’s independence was the result of prevailing racial harmony, with Islam as the official religion and the Malay rulers having the duty of preserving racial understanding, which was referred to as the social contract. “The commitment to establishing an independent nation came from the close cooperation of the Malay rulers and community and political leaders who received the people’s mandate,” he said. However, of late, various quarters with vested interest had given their own interpretation of the social contract from a narrow perspective to serve their own agenda. Their action had caused uneasiness among the public. Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin also said “all the races are the masters of this country and they are free to practise any religion without hurting the other religions”. – Bernama

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Speaker Sivakumar fails again ONLY STATE LEGAL ADVISER, NOT PRIVATE LAWYERS, CAN REPRESENT HIM, COURT RULES

by Humayun Kabir [email protected]

POH: The High Court here ruled for the second time in three days yesterday that Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar is a public servant of the Perak government and must be represented by the state legal adviser and not by private lawyers of his choosing. The ruling by Judicial Commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim was on a case filed by three Barisan Nasionalfriendly independent assemblymen against Sivakumar for declaring their seats vacant on the strength of their pre-dated resignation letters. After hearing submissions from lawyers for both parties in his chambers, Ridwan said Sivakumar is a state government officer as stated under Section 2 and 24(3) of the Government Proceedings Act 1956 and ordered him to engage the state legal adviser as his counsel. Furthermore, he said, as Sivakumar is drawing his salary from the consolidated fund of the Perak state government, it makes him a government servant of the state. Sivakumar had declared the seats of the assemblymen for Changkat Jering (Mohd Osman Mohd Jaitu), Behrang (Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi) and Jelapang (Hee Yit Foong) vacant after receiving their resignation letters and subsequently informed the Election Commission (EC) to hold by-elections for the vacant seats. The EC decided against it as the three assemblymen claimed they had not resigned and were still as-

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Dignity of rulers must be protected: Raja of Perlis

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Suspicions grow attack was ‘inside job’

Eye spy… Canadian filmmaker Rob Spence, who lost his right eye when he was a child, shows a prototype of a prosthetic eye which will be transformed into a video camera at a press conference in Brussels yesterday. Spence, a director and producer in Toronto, said he would use the eye-cam the same way he uses a video camera to carry out the so-called “EyeBorg Project”. In using the eye as a wireless video camera, he wants to make a documentary about how video and humanity intersect, especially with regards to surveillance.

semblymen. The trio then applied to the High Court to declare that their state seats were not vacant. Last Tuesday, in ruling that Sivakumar’s private lawyers had no locus standi to represent him in an application filed by Mentri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir, Ridwan had also ruled that Sivakumar is a state government officer under Section 24 of the Government Proceedings Act, that states that in

civil proceedings by or against the government, the state legal adviser shall act on their behalf. Sivakumar’s legal team yesterday comprised Chan Kok Keong, Nga Hock Cheh, Augustine Anthoney and Mohd Asri Othman. State legal adviser Ahmad Kamal Shahid was also present. The lawyers for the three assemblymen – Datuk Hafarizam Haron, Syed Faisal Syed Abdullah,

Abu Bakar As-Sidek, M. Reza Hassan, Badrul Hishah Abdul Wahab and Faizul Hilmy Ahmad Zamri – are also the same lawyers who represent Zambry. Earlier, Chan said in his submission that Sivakumar should not be considered a public servant as Article 132(3) (b) of the Federal Constitution states that “the public

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