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Rulers’ Conference special statement – testimony of nation-building in crisis

The Conference of Rulers issued a special joint press statement at its 215th meeting in Kuala Terengganu on the social contract as the bedrock of the formation of Malaysia, in particular “on the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay rulers regarding the special privileges, position, eminence or greatness of the Malay rulers, Islam, Malay as the national language, the special position of the Malays, and genuine interests of the other communities in accordance with the Federal Constitution”.

This is an unprecedented document and is testimony of Malaysian nation-building facing a crisis of confidence after half-a-century of nationhood – in particular after the March 8 “political tsunami” seven months ago.

This was the theme of my 2009 budget speech in Parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday, where I raised many issues on the tsunami of crisis of confidence afflicting Malaysia – affecting the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister-in-waiting, the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General, the judiciary and on a whole spectrum of issues whether on anti-corruption, human rights or nation-building.

The special press statement of the Conference of Rulers should be seriously studied by all Malaysians, whether political parties, civic organizations or ordinary citizens for the unity, harmony, prosperity and greatness of the Malaysian nation must be regarded as the responsibility and challenge of every Malaysian citizen, regardless of race, religion or territory so that we can enhance our national competitiveness in the borderless era of information technology and globalization.

Following is the special press statement of the Conference of Rulers on several matters enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

“Press statement issued by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal on the role of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Malay rulers regarding the special privileges, position, eminence or greatness of the Malay rulers, Islam, Malay as the national language, the special position of the Malays, and genuine interests of the other communities in accordance with the Federal Constitution.

“The Malay rulers who attended the meeting of the Conference of Rulers conferred on the issuing of this special joint press statement.

“The Malay rulers hold the constitutional role to safeguard the special privileges, position, eminence and greatness of the Malay rulers, safeguard Islam, Malay as the national language, and the genuine interests of the other communities in Malaysia.

“The actions of certain quarters in disputing and questioning these matters, which formed the primary basis for the formation of Malaysia and are enshrined in the Federal Constitution, had caused provocation and uneasiness among the people.

“In retaliation, several quarters particularly Malay leaders whether in the government or non-governmental organisations as well as individuals had expressed their dissatisfaction and anger against those who had made the statements and reports and organised the forums.

“Among the reasons identified for these to have occurred is the cursory knowledge of those concerned regarding the historical background as to why these provisions were enshrined in the Federal Constitution and the influence of their attempts to implicate the principles of impartiality and justice without regard for the historical background and social condition of this country. Narrow political interests are also a cause.

“Unless this phenomenon is arrested immediately, it can lead to disunity and racial strife that can undermine the peace and harmony which has all this while brought progress, development and success to the nation.

“As such, it is necessary for the Conference of Rulers to emphasise and remind all quarters of these constitutional provisions besides giving emphasis to the assurance of safeguarding the genuine rights of other communities.

“It has to be emphasised that each provision in the Federal Constitution has undergone the process of discussion, consideration, consultation, sacrifice and compromise of the highest degree for what has been championed, discussed, considered, benefited from as well as agreed to by all quarters concerned, until the realisation of the provisions in the Federal Constitution which are known as the Social Contract.

“It is not proper to dispute and question this Social Contract and more so to subject it to a review or change because it is the primary basis of the formation of Malaysia. Therefore, it is appropriate for the Malay rulers to remind that there should never be any attempt ever to test and challenge issues related to the Social Contract.

“Truly, the leaders of the pre-independence era were insightful, far-sighted. They brought along with them the Malay rulers for the negotiations to claim independence. The institution of the rulers was retained and legally enshrined in the Constitution of an independent Malaysia.

“The institution of the Rulers was accorded eminence, was positioned at the apex of government, as the head of the country and the states, as a protective umbrella, ensuring impartiality among the citizens. The institution of rulers takes on the role of being a check-and-balance to untangle complications, if any.

“The Conference of Rulers also calls on the Malays to be united to safeguard the privileges, position, eminence and greatness of the Malay rulers, safeguard Islam, Malay as the national language, and the genuine interests of the other communities in Malaysia as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. It has to be emphasised that this agenda is more important and foremost than political or factional interests.

“Non-Malays should not harbour any apprehension or worry over their genuine rights because these rights are guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and provisions of the state constitutions of Malaysia contained in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

“It is hoped that with this emphasis, all confusion among the people regarding these matters can be contained and an atmosphere of peace, harmony and mutual respect can continue to exist among the people for the maintenance of order in the country.”

60 Replies to “Rulers’ Conference special statement – testimony of nation-building in crisis”

  3. The special joint press statement by the Conference of Rulers is timely and rightly appropriate. It is a clear reminder to all right-thinking Malaysians that we should always uphold the spirit and letter of the Federal Constitution at all times!

  4. “It has to be emphasised that each provision in the Federal Constitution has undergone the process of discussion, consideration, consultation, sacrifice and compromise of the highest degree for what has been championed, discussed, considered, benefited from as well as agreed to by all quarters concerned, until the realisation of the provisions in the Federal Constitution which are known as the Social Contract.”

    Now that this is out in the open, STOP amending the constitution as and when we feel like it! Does anyone have any idea how many times our FC has been amended over the years and how different it is now compared to 1957?

    Under which PM has the FC been amended the most times?(this one should be easy to answer).

    At the end of the day if there’s any confusion or ambiguity, please refer to the FC…the paramount legislation of the land.

  5. It appears the new Rulers that took over from their late parents are more open minded … and..well educated.
    As such..they think….speak with love for all Malaysians.
    I recalled…..it was ..the Sultan of Perak….that started the ball rolling.
    Yes….this speaks well for our future generations.

  6. The statement above is quite different from the way Utasan Malaysia, NST and the Star spin it. They made it to sound like a warning to non-Malays. I read the above as a reminder to all including the Malays and rightly so.

    This is reflective of the state of flux the country is now in. Everything is so topsy turvy because the government is in denial and still have their heads stuck in the sand. Instead of taking care of the country and it’s people, they are fighting each other to accumulate as much as they can like warlords fighting the spoils of war. We need change and need it badly as we are heading heading towards turning into a basket case.

  7. “Non-Malays should not harbour any apprehension or worry over their genuine rights because these rights are guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and provisions of the state constitutions of Malaysia contained in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.”

    Yea yea.
    We know. We know.
    But do umnoputras know?
    They always speak without regard to this constitutional right of ours.
    They even go as far as to demand for revocation of citizenship.
    And deny our contribution to the nation and the people.
    Worst of all perhaps is when those statements are made by umnoputras who are themselves recent migrants and first generation malaysians.
    This is not all.
    Malaysia belongs to us (non-umnoputras) as well.
    That means the country and her people and government.
    Yet we (non-umnoputras who are non-malays) were told to buzz off from the ongoing umno leadership crisis.
    When we hear about billions being spent behind opaque screens for reasons which appeared dubious can we (non-umnoputras) not find out?
    And what is this thing about the government guaranteeing the profit of umnoputra’s business venture?
    Its all about umno and umnoputras.
    They are the root cause of all problems.

  8. While we praise the Rulers…it seems they also approved UMNO’s appointment of the new Chief Justice…..which Pakatan Party leaders are strongly against.
    So where are the balanced minds…..or is it true…they cannot go against whatever UMNO wants to do??

  9. Which social contract? what social contract? Is it the one penned in 1957?

    Throughout life I served as a teacher, soldier. eye donor, blood donor, national unity class teacher, rukun tetangga participant and yet I feel downtrodden.

  12. “The Malay rulers hold the constitutional role to safeguard the special privileges, position, eminence and greatness of the Malay rulers, safeguard Islam, Malay as the national language, and the genuine interests of the other communities in Malaysia.”

    Until today, nobody can clearly decipher the true meaning of special privileges or position of Malay. What does it mean to be special? Does it mean as a Malay, one is free from hunger and free from being poor? Or given that special position, one is destined to live happily ever after? While being special is so important to Malay, it is another matter altogether if you travel around the country, facts and realities translate the meaning of being special in the opposite direction, being special is almost equivalent to being the underclass. Well, it is now more than fifty years already Malays have been special…

  13. May be i am stupid. I don’t understand a thing what the statement said. Can someone tell me in the nutshell what the statement said? I read twice, and I can’t discern anything meaningful or new.

  14. Uncle Kit, I’m warning u one last time…………..

    JANGAN CABAR SAYA. SAYA AKAN LARI AMOK NANTI.
    JANGAN HINA SAYA. SAYA TANGKAP U BAWAH ISA NANTI

    HORMAT SAYA. HORMAT SAYA. I’M TELLING U ONE LAST TIME, HORMAT SAYA………..

    We life it times where we demand to be respected by others. We dont earn it anyone……….

  18. Some people have been loyal to the Government of the day even during British rule…

    as long as they are fed well…………………the morale of the story is that, you fight for your own rights, dont expect it to be given to you on a silver platter

  20. The problem is different people has different interpretation! Just watch RockyBru and their commenter. They think the Opposition are challenging the Malay rights. Yet the Opposition think that UMNO is the one that destroy the rulers in the name of protecting Malay rights, and so remind them about Social Contract.

    Bottom line, will Social Contract give Malaysia a peaceful and clean governance? If you interpret the SC along the racial unity line, then you will respect every races, even though Malay has special privileges and everyone give and take to keep it that way. If you interpret SC in the corrupted way such as to utilize the benefits of this Special Privileges, then it is evil.

    So how?

    Remember all religion books (bible or quran) all have stories on wars and peaces, and it is really up to the people to interpret it.

    So how?

  21. ///Non-Malays should not harbour any apprehension or worry over their genuine rights because these rights are guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and provisions of the state constitutions of Malaysia contained in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.///

    This article has been amended in 1971 when the parliament reconvened after the emergency NOC suspension. In particular the amendment removed the provision that a review of the said article 15 years from the date of independence. Whether a review had not been carried out resulting in any action was immaterial. What is important is the amendment and removal of the provision for a review removed the agreement reached by the forefathers. It is therefore not a complete record of the social contract. The removal of that review provision gives rise to confusion as to the raison d’etre for the introduction of the said article 153.

    The Conference of Rulers has called attention to the social contract. The government should revert to original language as provided in the constitution of Malaya.

    It is acceptable that the constitution may be amended in so far it affects equally the position of all the citizens. But when it affects the relative position of the interests of the different communities, such amendment infringes on the agreement of the social contract.

  23. how do you undo all that has been done against the non malays.

    how come it takes so long to do the reminders

    does it mean it is okay after all this while

    how do we know others will listen and comply

    who is going to enforce and ensures the assurance

    15 opinions against over 23 million, move over and align with change of times

  26. Yep, why are they still mentioning social contract? After 50 years of independence, we are still being bullied like this. Is not that we challenge people or what not. People in Malaysia has no intention of challenging anyone. But UMNO has overstepped their boundaries so much that is not even funny. People are already as calm and as patience as they can be yet these bad things from UMNO keep happening again and again. As for the Ruler’s Conference’s statement, I would like to ask them back 1 question,

    Do they actually understand the plight of the people in Malaysia? Especially people in Hindraf? Or even people’s hardship in wanting to voice out the injustice done to them? People are just simple folk, law abiding citizens who wants fairness in life. Is that too much to ask? People have been called from Squatters, Pendatangs, etc etc. Yet we keep on waiting and hoping for a good goverment will take over soon. I am positive the non- Malays as the statement issued, NOT RAKYAT MALAYSIA MIND YOU. There are still a strong sense of divisive elements in this statement, do not want to stir the racial sentiment. USE YOUR EYES AND LOOK, WHO HAS BEEN DOING THOSE RECENTLY. DOES AHMAD ISMAIL RINGS THE BELL??? DOES PEOPLE LIKE HISHAMUDDIN HUSSEIN ONN RINGS THE BELL???

    The rakyat Malaysia never challenge them anything, but challenge them to dispense equal justice, and yet we keep getting garbage from the entity known as UMNO????

  27. Oh and additional note to this Special Statement, it is still vague, still do sound like NOTHING HAS CHANGE. It can be easilly subject to interpretatioin that sounds like this

    “KAMI PANTANT DICABAR.”

    MAKE A CLEAR STATEMENT, DONT TRY TO BEAT AROUND THE BUSH.

  31. Also let me remind you guys and gals out there, Royals or non Royals,

    CONSTITUTION is always >>> than contract.

    So follow the constitution, dont try to wave at us an invisible SOCIAL CONTRACT, you want peace and prosperity, you do the responsible thing as a ruler. You earn the respect of the Rakyat Malaysia. Not start waving invisible contract at them. Unless of course this statement is twisted by Bernama news, which is owned again, you guessed it, by UMNO to piss people off.

  32. people now walk arnd demanding to be respected, not like the norm where we earn respect.

    now respect is also a ” special right ”

    HORMAT SAYA !
    ________________________________________________________

    Thats right my man. Respect has to be earned. Not by WAVING KRIS or “SAYA PANTANG DI CABAR”.

  36. Uncle Kit,
    The Malays’ privilege, etc are referred to by the statements, what about the status of the Sarawakian, Sabahan who jointly form Malaysia with Spore (separated later of course) and Malaya in 1963? They are 2 of the 3 Malaysia component territories.

  41. ///Until today, nobody can clearly decipher the true meaning of special privileges or position of Malay. What does it mean to be special?///–dawsheng

    If I am not mistaken, the special position of Malays relates to the religion where Islam is the official religion of the Federation, and also the Malay Rulers as was known previously are rulers of the state and the Federation. In addition to that, Malays enjoy special treatments relative to non-Malays from the government as provided under article 153 of the constitution. It should be emphasized that as has been claimed by UMNO leaders, article 153 was included in exchange for granting citizenships to non-Malays not born in the country. Under the agreement, article 153 was subject to review after 15 years, and it would be removed if the Malays no longer required that the provisions under that article. It is clear therefore that article 153 was a sort of special assistance to be provided because the Malays were thought to require them. The special assistance includes a reasonable proportion of the number of places in civil service to be reserved for Malays, and a reasonable proportion of the number of scholarship awards to be reserved for Malays. These were clearly specified in the original version of the constitution.

    NEP was NOT part of the constitution. It was the promise of UMNO government that NEP would be implemented for 20 years only from 1970. Since NEP has more extensive assistance programmes to Malays, it was understood at the time of its inception that as soon as NEP reached its sunset, article 153 would have satisfied the requirement under a review of the said article, and accordingly the special assistance to Malays under that article would no longer be required.

    The Conference of Rulers should make a stand on whether NEP after 38 years has achieved all that were anticipated under article 153. I submit that it has done so many times over. To adhere to the social contract, and to keep that in record, it would be useful for the government to retain the original version of article 153 in the constitution, and to add a paragraph to specify that the objectives of the article has since been achieved.

  42. I believe there are 3 separate elements that should not be lumped together as some sacred Social Contract.

    1.The first element is the ORIGINAL Federal Constitution that laid out all the rights and duties of the various parties to gain independence.
    2.The ABUSES done to the Original FC (200+amendments) that have changed the intent and spirit of the founding fathers. Caused largely by a overwhelming majority government that rode rough-shod over any opposition.
    3.The drastic morphing into the Ketuanan Principle that treats all non-Bumis as second and third class citizens. This is a natural step after 2.
    The NEP is an example of a policy that seems to have morphed into a business model such that cronies of BN get all the lucrative deals.

  43. Is there anything in this world that could not be amended besides Holy Books?

    If the provisions in a constitution not even in compliance with the religion’s teachings -it must not be amended too?

  45. What social contract? Please define clearly the wordings of the social contract.No one can actually question or dispute the social contract cause there is no actual ‘contract’ that one can actually study and analyze. So how can people wave the Social Contract and demand that people abide by it? How do we actually abide by something which we don’t even know?

    Oh sure, people like Dr. M has offered their ‘wise knowledge and experience’ in the actual contents of the social contract. One of the contents of the social contract according to Dr. M is that non-Malay citizenship was given in exchange for Malay special rights. Therefore, according to the so called ‘Social Contract’ non-Malay citizenship cannot be separated from Malay special rights.

    How sure are we this was the original requirements as defined in the Social contract? Was Dr. M one of the founding fathers that fought for independence and wrote the constitution?

  46. On another note, even the constitution can be amended by parliament. However, the Social Contract cannot be amended in any way (given that no wordings actually exists to amend).

    Therefore, the Social Contract can be said to be an even higher authority than the Constitution itself. Isn’t it amazing that this country called Malaysia governs itself based on principles laid out in a ‘document’ that no one has actually seen and that this ‘document’ is the highest authority that no one can dispute, not even parliament.

  47. And a final note. The Social Contract was ‘written’ during the formation of Malaya (by the leaders of peninsular Malaysia). Sabah & Sarawak which joined later was never part of the discussions of the Social Contract and therefore in no way ratified nor agreed to the contents of the Social Contract.

    Therefore, the people of Sabah & Sarawak is in no way bound by the requirements of the Social Contract and are under no obligation to follow it.

    Of course the people like Dr. M conveniently dismiss such things by saying that when Sabah & Sarawak agreed to join Malaysia, the Social Contract was then extended to include them by making the indigenous people of Sabah & Sarawak Bumiputeras.

  48. 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.

    Hence, the present rampant racial discriminations practiced on almost every facet of our national life are mostly violations of the Constitution. Examples of these violations are:

    (a) Racial discrimination in the appointment and promotion of employees in publicly funded bodies, resulting in these becoming almost mono-raced bodies. These bodies include: the police, civil service, army and various semi and quasi government agencies.

    (b) Imposition of compulsory share quota for malays in non-malay companies.

    (c) Imposition of compulsory price discounts and quotas in favour of malays in housing projects.

    (d) Completely lop-sided allocation of scholarships and seats of learning in clearly unreasonable proportions that reflect racial discriminations.

    (e) Blanket barring of non-malays to publicly funded academic institutions (that should include the Mara).

    (f) Barring of non-malays from tenders and contracts controlled indirectly or directly by the government.

    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.

    However, this Constitution has now been hijacked through decades of hegemony of political power by the ruling party to result in the virtual monopoly of the public sector by a single race.

    The ensuing racism, corruption and corrosion of integrity of our democratic institutions have brought serious retrogression to our nation-building process in terms of national unity, morality, discipline and competitiveness of our people.

  49. While there is nothing specific about the Ruler’s statement that is questionable, the timing and the certain choices leaves me warned of the ruler’s abilities.

    1) The so called ‘social contract’ is popularly spinned as the exchange of citzenship for non-Malays for special rights of Malay. The wording of the statement (note they used special position NOT special rights) clearly did not say this but the fact its popularly known and the rulers STILL uses the term in this statement leads a lot to be desire about the ruler’s wisdom.

    2) The statement speaks of recent events BUT does not go back to its original causes of those events – the deterioration of law and institutions, the corruption of the Federal Constitution itself. While there is certain technical reason for the choices, the fact is it speaks volume of the ruler’s ability to bring real change to our country.

    I beg to differ that the Ruler Statement is NOT a cause of concern the way it is and coming at this time and its wisdom, I don’t particularly feel good about..

  50. NEP implementation appears to be unconstitutional when read with article 153. Can the government impose a 7% discount for house purchase to some people based on race? Can government policies be seen as law which should not contravene the Federal consititution? Lawyers out there can help to clarify the situation.

  51. Whoa, I just asked the same question in another blog and agree with Limkamput – What’s this cold “Special Statement”?

    We have been brought up to respect and pledge allegiance to our Sultans – Raja Raja kita

    “Negaraku… Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku :: Rakyat Hidup:: Bersatu dan Maju:: Rahmat B’gia:: Tuhan Kurniakan:: Raja Kita:: Selamat Bertakhta”

    but where are they when we need them? They don’t even bother to acknowledge the rakyat’s petition let alone listen to us? We want to hear from them, their views and advice perhaps, not just cold “special statement” from Council of Rulers. What does that mean?

    We the rakyat have been singing praise of them for decades and are they so unreachable, Raja Raja of rakyat Malaysia?

  52. Paragraph 4 of the statement states that “certain quarters” disputed and questioned the provisos in paragraph 3 ie: “the special privileges, position, eminence and greatness of the Malay rulers, safeguard Islam, Malay as the national language, and the genuine interests of the other communities in Malaysia…”

    Paragraph 5 states that “several quarters particularly Malay leaders” retaliated. This implied that the “certain quarters” in paragraph 4 were non-Malays.

    Paragraph 6 implies that “principles of impartiality and justice” needs to give way to “historical background and social condition of this country…”

    Paragraph 14 repeats: ““Non-Malays should not harbour any apprehension or worry over their genuine rights …” The “genuine” part is new, at least I have not seen it used earlier.

    Make your own conclusions.

  53. Can anyone explain that to me in simple english? All that sophisticated language leaves me wondering what it is all about. It’s 51 years since that was formulated, but as enshrined in the social contract, are we non malays there or not?

  54. we have another class of of people 1st class bumiputra but not umnoputra but rather big tycoon with related political connection most of them mcrb ( malaysian chinese related businessman) they are everywhere for every season of political atmosphere.

  56. We should be able to make a difference between questioning the existence of the social contract and questioning how that social contract is being implemented.

    In the 50s, our forefathers clearly did not contemplate the emergence of more than a million Indonesians being given citizenship and claiming Malay status. They clearly did not contemplate immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh marrying local lasses, and claiming Malay status. The children of immigrants are defining the social contract. They have been implementing the social contract for their own ends, and to say that we can’t question its implementation is incorrect.

  59. I’m with Ungku Aziz on the issue of ‘social contract’ – there is no such thing as a social contract in the sense that it is understood by many. There is none that we could point to. It is really a search into the moral conscience of a nation – after the fact.

  60. OUR CONSTITUTION….well its nice to hear…but MAHATHIR HAS A DIFFERENT AGENDA….HE IS NOW THE CONTROLLER OF THE PRIME MINISTER -IN-WAITING…MAHATHIR IS RIGHT…..ABDULLLAH IS HOPELESS….ABDULLAH HAS EVERYTHING GOING FOR HIM TO NAIL MAHATHIR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS ….AS IN THE LINGAM CONTROVERSY…BUT WAIT…. WE HAVE SEEN MAHATHIR EVEN CURTAILED THE RULERS POWERS….HMMM THE RULERS GOT TO SIT DOWN AGIN ….WHETHER .THEIR RIGHTS WILL BE PROTECTED OR OTHERWISE….LOST IN THE BEWILDERNESS….NAJIPPP… MUHIDDIN….THEY ARE PUPPETS OF MAHATHIR….SURE ENOUGH MAHATHIR IS THE RULER IN WAITING….GOD BLESS THE RULERS AND THE RAKYAT….BA DA WEE…YOU CAN MAKE THE CHANGES….THROW YOUR SUPPORT BEHING PR AND YOU WILL BE SAVED OR U WILL BE SAVAGED…can we still believe in the constitution…..soon its going to be NO HOLDS BARED…ITS ONLY PR CAN SAVE THE COUNTRY.. NOT BN ….MIC HAS BECOME IRRELEVANT….MCA LOST ITS TOOTH….UMNO LEADERS 99%CORRUPTED…BLOATED…RAKYAT…contitution will be altered again….for the sake of NOZIPPP.. WE KNOW WHY NOZIPP WANTS TO SLEEP WITH MAHATHIR….MUJAHIDDIN IS BUTTERING…soon … M N M SDN BHD will operate their business… we will be buying many more submarines…helicopters…EXPLOSIVES…..MA MA MIA

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