Judge: Ban on SIS book ‘outrageous’, ‘irrational’

The Court of Appeal today upheld a high court decision to lift a Home Ministry ban of a book entitled “Muslim Women and the Challenges of Islamic Extremism” by Sisters in Islam (SIS) Forum (Malaysia).

Justice Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail, who chaired a three-member panel, held that the book was not prejudicial to public order.

“The former home minister’s satisfaction that the book was prejudicial to public order, in absence of any clear evidence of any prejudicial events occurring, was in outrageous defiance of logic, and falls squarely within the realm of unreasonableness and irrationality,” said Abdul Wahab.

He said High Court judge Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof confined himself properly to his duty in the judicial review brought by SIS Forum, and the judge was correct in finding objectively that the book was not prejudicial to public order.

In dismissing the appeal brought by former home minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar against the High Court’s decision to lift the ban on the book, Abdul Wahab said whether or not the book was against the Islamic Advancement Department’s (Jakim) guideline, was irrelevant to whether the book was prejudicial to public order.

Abdul Wahab said it was the duty of the court to interfere if a decision maker misdirected himself in law, or had taken into consideration irrelevant facts, or did not consider relevant facts.

He said the court must see if there was an abuse or misuse of administrative discretion, whether the discretion was used for the purpose it was given and whether it was fairly and justly exercised.

The unanimous decision was made by the panel comprising Abdul Wahab, Court of Appeal judge Datuk Clement Allan Skinner and High Court judge Mah Weng Kwai.

However, the decision was pronounced by Abdul Wahab in the absence of Skinner who is away in Kota Kinabalu to attend another hearing there.

The court ordered Syed Hamid (i.e the government) to pay RM20,000 in legal costs.

Syed Hamid was named respondent in the judicial review application brought by SIS Forum, which challenged his order to ban the book.Read more.

The Global Thinkers Book Club

Foreign Policy

What the smart set is reading -- from definitive guides to the global economic crash to the most unexpected new maps of the human psyche. And no surprise: They're all reading each other.

1. Fault Lines, by Global Thinker No. 26 Raghuram Rajan

Rajan's look at the fissures that brought about the global financial crisis -- and which are still at work today.

Fault Lines: "There are deep fault lines in the global economy, fault lines that have developed because in an integrated economy and in an integrated world, what is best for the individual actor or institutions is not always best for the system. Responsibility for some of the more serious fault lines lies not in economics but in politics. Unfortunately, we did not know where all these fault lines ran until the crisis exposed them. We now know better, but the danger is that we will continue to ignore them."

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Zahid Ibrahim's 'In Good Faith':An Inconvenient Truth

Hantu Laut

I have just finished reading Zaid Ibrahim's 'In Good Faith'. An explicitly honest analysis of the damning truth of the socio-political structure in this country. An admission, from an inside man, of the pseudo-interpretation of the social contract, perpetuated by those desirous of keeping the gravy train on track and on an infinite journey, more often than not, for pecuniary advantage and using hegemonic inculcation to subdue the minorities through coercion and consent.

The first Prime Minster, the late Tungku Abdul Rahman, in his book the 'Viewpoint', said "While I warmly welcome help for the bumiputras, I deplore any act that is likely to divide true Malaysians into two halves; division will benefit no-one.I have always said that this policy of"divide-and-rule" was a colonial practice, and with the era of colonialism behind us we should have seen an end of it.Yet "divide-and-rule" seems to linger on".

The discriminatory social contract should have been done with when it reached the end of its shelf life. However, the bumiputras, those in power and already spoilt by the easy picking have steadfastly refused to do away with this unfair and divisive policy. The iconic keris is a deplorable reminder to non-Malays not to toy with the idea of questioning the social contract.

Zahid, a Member of Parliament from the dominant ruling party, took a critical look at the various aspects of governance within the ambits of the bumiputra economic policy, Malay supremacy, economic mis-managment, rising religious intolerance, Islamisation of the country and encroachment of Sharia into the civil liberties of non-Muslims. His liberated views and forthrightness have given a breath of fresh air to many Malaysians. By the same token, I assume, it would have made him a pariah among his peers in UMNO. His views on some of the policies of government is diametrically opposed to those ossified by other leaders of his political party.As a lawyer with the biggest law firm in the country, he admits he had also benefited from the NEP, but would not lend his support to the perpetuation of such policy, which he thinks has a long-term negative side-effect on the bumiputras.A conclusion not far from the truth, as can be seen, from the failure to attain the 30% equity over the time frame initially given by the government. The NEP revivalists have unequivocally called for the NEP to be revivified without a time-frame.

Zahid must be the first elected representative in UMNO who was bold enough to go against the grain.An ideology that may make the top and middle echelon of the party very uncomfortable.Those before him that had fallen from grace, like Anwar Ibrahim, had been out of personal conflicts and power struggle, not differences of ideology. If there were more Malays like him in UMNO, this country would see a more progressive society.The unfortunate thing is, most Malays like him were not in UMNO.

The book was lucidly written, honest and splendidly readable.I would suggest every member of UMNO in particular and the Malaysian adult public in general to read this book. It was an unexpected surprise from a well-to-do and politically well-connected Malay.