Malaysian Law

Malaysia happened to be under British sovereignty for almost 150 years. Under the British influence, it was the principle of British authority to not interfere with local customs and religion subjects. Under the application of law, beliefs and customs were considered local personal matters and thus, both were administered by local laws. As for Muslim, the Islamic law was their local law as well as customary practise of which were the essence construct in various matters of their daily life. Nevertheless for the application of the law, as the court of hearing was the English court, English judges had to honour the ecclesiastical jurisdiction in order to interpret and comprehended the " local law ". This somehow, led to application of certain principles of English law in the local subject matters. As a result, some of the English laws were enforced to local people including Muslims, which indirectly deprived the application of Islamic law. For instance, the court allows the desire of the deceased in dividing his estates although it goes beyond one-third of the estate. The desire was contravened to the principle of bequeatable-third in which lessen the portion of the rest of heirs from their exact values. On the contrary, the application of English law in procedure of the administration of inheritance law also have benefit the Muslims which makes the process of claim smooth through probate and letter of administration. Therefore, this paper is at aim to analyze the weight of English's law influence in Malaysian law of inheritance especially for Muslims, its sustainability and challenges from past hitherto. The discussion also intends to elaborate the progress as well as the regress of the law, by studying the statutes and cases of which was passed through years in the country, and to make remark on the status quo of the common law in the matter of Islamic law of inheritance in Malaysia nowadays.

This article argues that recurring communal problems in Malaysia can be traced to not only economic and social policies undertaken by pragmatically rather than ideologically-inclined National Front-led governments, but they can also be located to weaknesses of their educational policies which have failed to disentangle Malaysians from colonial knowledge which had epistemologically moulded the conceptions of 'race' and 'nation' as prevalent in Malaysia. The article seeks to show that, despite the apparent success of Malaysia's national education system in producing a relatively large number of skilled and semiskilled workers who went on to form constantly expanding vibrant middle classes, these cohorts of new labour market entrants have largely failed to live up to expectations of them as socially progressive in the way envisaged by Wawasan 2020 – a liberal, rational, inclusive, scientific and progressive Malaysian nation. As a matter of fact, after fifty years, Malaysia's educational system remains unsuccessful in tackling its twin problems before independence – communal and class polarisation. We hereby argue that the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, notwithstanding the hulabaloo which accompanied its launching, not only also fails to confront the critical issue of identity and nation-building, but it also lacks credible solutions beyond the colonial-designed educational framework which accepts communal divisions as a fait accompli.

Tulisan ini menjelaskan mengenai pembahagian harta pusaka orang Islam di Mahkamah Syariah Negeri Sabah. Beberapa aspek seperti sejarah dan perkembangan pembahagian harta orang Islam di Sabah turut dikupas melalui 4 fasa bermula sebelum dan selepas Sabah mencapai kemerdekaannya pada tahun 1963. Selain menjelaskan undang-undang yang digunakan sebagai asas untuk mendengar dan memutuskan kes pusaka orang Islam di negeri ini, kes-kes berkaitan yang telah diputuskan di Mahkamah Awam, Mahkamah Anak Negeri dan Mahkamah Syariah turut dibincangkan bagi memantapkan lagi perbincangan. Turut dibincangkan adalah prosedur permohonan pembahagian harta pusaka dan pentadbir (wali harta) di Mahkamah Syariah Sabah yang diguna pakai ketika ini. Tulisan ini diharapkan dapat menyumbang kepada perkembangan undang-undang Islam di negara ini ke arah lebih positif dan progresif sesuai dengan perkembangan semasa yang semakin kompleks dan mencabar, khususnya dalam konteks pengurusan dan pembahagian harta pusaka orang-orang Islam.

This paper examines the constitutional history of Malaysia and its development since Independence. This paper argues that the nature and intent of the original 1957 constitution has been radically altered by the subsequent amendments and other legislations.

Orang Asli, the heterogeneous Indigenous minority peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, continue to face formidable challenges in realising their rights as distinct Indigenous peoples despite being ascribed a measure of constitutional and statutory protection and recognition. With reference to the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and international definitions of ‘Indigenous peoples’, this paper examines the influence of the externally constructed ethnic term ‘Orang Asli’ and its concomitant legal implications on the Orang Asli quest for indigeneity and the recognition of their rights as distinct Indigenous Peoples.

Kebanyakan negara majori Muslim memiliki sistem perundangan yang meliputi peruntukan Islam dan hak-hak liberal. Meskipun kedua-dua elemen tersebut tidak semestinya bercanggahan, komitmen terhadap kedua-duanya menjadi asas, dari segi undang-undang serta simbolik, untuk para aktivis mengajukan visi masing-masing tentang negara dan masyarakat. Dengan menggunakan Malaysia sebagai kajian kes, buku Mengkanunkan Agama ini meneliti bagaimana susun atur perundangan sedemikian telah mencetuskan litigasi-litigasi dan membantu pembinaan konstruk “binari hak-lawan-ibadat” di ruang undang-undang, politik, serta imaginasi popular massa. Dengan merujuk kepada sumber-sumber primer yang ekstensif dan menjejak kembali kes-kes kontroversial dari kamar mahkamah undang-undang sehinggalah ke mahkamah pendapat awam, kajian ini berusaha untuk menteorikan proses “pemahkamahan agama” dan kesan-kesan terbitan daripada tindakan mahkamah ke atas kesedaran perundangan serta keagamaan popular masyarakat. Buku ini mendokumentasikan bagaimana institusi perundangan menggalakkan pertembungan ideologi, yang seterusnya mentakrifhan negara ini berserta politiknya. Dengan meninjau hubung kait antara pluralisme undang-undang, gerakan sosial, sekularisme, dan Islamisme politik, buku Mengkanunkan Agama membuka ufuk perbincangan baru tentang kesalinghubungan antara undang-undang, agama, politik dan masyarakat. Terjemahan oleh Hazman Baharom.

Under Malaysia’s federalism, the legislative powers of the Federation are
distributed between the federal and state governments by the Federal Constitution, classified under Federal List, State List and Joint List. Thus state legislature is authorised to legislate on matters involving, among others, Islamic law. This power includes to create “offences against the precepts of Islam”. So two questions then arise. Firstly, what constitutes the “precepts of Islam”? Secondly, who shall interpret what that phrase means?

Kebanyakan Perlembagaan Persekutuan mengandungi amalan yang diwarisi daripada zaman permerintahan, kecuali peruntukan tentang pentadbiran, parlimen dan kewarganegaraan. Terdapat fasal-fasal yang diwarisi sejak zaman penjajahan dan masih dikekalkan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Unsur-unsur tradisi sebenarnya telah wujud sejak ratusan tahun yang lalu sebelum pembentukan perlembagaan pada tahun 1957. Ia dianggap sebagai satu kontrak social yang meliputi 4 aspek termasuklah institusi beraja, agama Islam, bahasa Melayu dan kedudukan istimewa orang melayu. Keempat-empat unsur ini dianggap menjadi sebahagian daripada kandungan penting Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Ia berperanan menstabilkan sistem politik Negara dan laporan yang dibuat oleh Suruhanjaya Reid menekankan betapa pentingnya perlembagaan mengambil kira faktor-faktor sejarah, tradisi, ekonomi dan sosial yang wujud sebelum tahun 1957. Ia menunjukkan betapa pentingnya unsur-unsur tradisi sehingga dilindungi di bawah Akta Hasutan dan dianggap sebagai isu-isu sensitif yang dilarang daripada dijadikan isu perbincangan awam. Ia juga merupakan satu pra-syarat dan permuafakatan yang telah dipersetujui oleh orang Melayu dan bukan Melayu. Ini bermakna, orang Melayu diberikan hak istimewa, Islam menjadi agama persekutuan dan Bahasa Melayu diterima sebagai bahasa kebangsaan sebagai pra-syarat penerimaan hak kewarganegaraan oleh etnik bukan Melayu.

Green area has been introduced and well integrated in construction development to balance the development and the nature. The suitable plant and tree been chosen, not only to fulfil the artistic concept of landscape aspect, but also to maintain and preserve it for the sustainable landscape development. The local authority who owned the public tree that naturally grow or planted has a statutory duty of care to maintain and ensure the tree not causing danger to public safety. The local authority can be held liable in case of fallen tree and tree root damaging individual’s limb, life and/or property, and therefore responsible to pay the damages, except in circumstances that have been proven the accident happen due to acts of God and which, every due diligence and care have been taken.

Abstrak Artikel ini membincangkan konsep hak asasi manusia bagi golongan orang kurang upaya (OKU) yang sudah mula mendapat pengiktirafan pada peringkat antarabangsa apabila Konvensyen PBB Hak Orang Kurang Upaya dan Protokol Pilihan diwujudkan pada tahun 2006. Di Malaysia, ketiadaan peruntukan penalti dalam Akta OKU 2008 menghalang konsep hak asasi manusia dilaksanakan dengan wajar. Selain itu, golongan OKU masih lagi berhadapan dengan persepsi negatif dan diskriminasi masyarakat, sekali gus dinafikan layanan sama rata disebabkan oleh ketidakupayaan mereka. Model sosial ketidakupayaan menggunakan pendekatan hak asasi manusia dilihat lebih sesuai untuk menganalisis keperluan dan hak asasi OKU sejagat bagi menggantikan model perubatan. Tiga prinsip utama pendekatan hak asasi manusia, iaitu maruah, kesamaan dan inklusif penting dilaksanakan kerana mampu mengurangkan persepsi negatif dan diskriminasi masyarakat terhadap golongan OKU. Ketiga-tiga prinsip ini juga membantu

It is a trait of naive immature psychology to fall for astonishment. Muslim countries, due to lack of matured and deep understanding of Islam and the lack of willpower from the Muslim rulers, have caused the demise of Islam while being astonished by western culture. This is a manifestation of Muslim inferiority complex. It has happened to Ottoman Turkey, Iran and now happening fast among Gulf and Malaysia. Even though Iran has reversed by Islamic revolution Malaysia is on a speedy downhill towards secular self annihilation. What can we generalize about the Muslim political and social landscape from Malaysian analysis? We can establish the following observations: a) Muslims are disunited on petty feuds, envy, jealousy and greed. b) Muslim societies are existing on major sins and Allah's mercy is withheld from them as per the proclamations in various Hadiths c) The Muslim political and social landscape is dominated by hypocrites and hostile infidels who do tahreef (twisting) of Islamic texts to marginalize Islam and realize major sins. d) Muslim psychology is being designed to accept a sinful society as normal and to make sins light. e) Muslim psychology is being engineered to abandon jihad. f) Muslim legal systems are being actively sustained to reject the Islamic legal system and Islamic philosophical, judicial, and logical protocols. g) Muslims have no strong intellectual defense against liberalism, even though liberalism is intellectually weak. h) Muslims have no long term plan to fight for Islamic revival.

The form of Islam normatively understood and practised in Malaysia, i.e. Malaysian Islam, has undergone myriad changes since the 1970s as a result of gradual Salafization. Powered by Saudi Arabian largesse and buoyed by the advent of the Internet, this new wave of Salafization has eclipsed an earlier Salafi trend that spawned the Kaum Muda reformist movement. Recent surveys suggest that there has been a rise in the level of extremism among Muslims in Malaysia. While the majority is far from being enamoured by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Wahhabi-Salafi doctrine that ISIS claims to represent in unadulterated form does appeal to many of them following the decades-long Salafization of Islam in the country. This tallies with media reports on increasing numbers of Malay-Muslim youth harbouring an attraction towards radical Islamist movements such as ISIS. Salafization, referring to a process of mindset and attitudinal transformation rather than the growth of Salafi nodes per se, is not restricted to individuals or groups identified as “Salafi”, but rather affects practically all levels of Malay-Muslim society, cutting across political parties, governmental institutions and non-state actors. It has resulted in Islamist, rather than Islamic, ideals increasingly defining the tenor of mainstream Islam in Malaysia, with worrying consequences for both intra-Muslim and inter-religious relations. Responses to the Wahhabi-Salafi onslaught from the Malay-Muslim ruling elite in Malaysia have been ambivalent, and have had weak counteracting effects on the Salafization process.

Misplaced Democracy: Malaysian Politics and People is the fruit of a three-year collaboration between academics who have chosen Malaysia as their specialty. Defined by its inter-disciplinarity and covering the fields of urban studies, political economy, international relations, political sociology and anthropology, film studies, literature, law and strategic studies, Misplaced Democracy is a path-breaking analysis of Malaysian politics and society during a period of contestation in which many Malaysians seek to re-orient the flow of history which has been going in favour of the ruling party since the country's independence. What is at stake here is the nature of Malaysian democracy itself. Covering topics as diverse as Syariah family law, muslim student activism, connivance militancy, maritime piracy and ownership of Malaysia's corporate sector, Misplaced Democracy seeks to untangle the complexities of contemporary Malaysian politics and society and, through original and unique analyses, tries to unveil the many realities of an emerging democracy embedded in authoritarian practices and rules, describe its ambiguities and its strengths, and contribute to the reinvention of Malaysia.

Kajian Ilmiah bagi memenuhi kriteria Ijazah Sarjana Muda Undang-Undang Universiti Malaya. Melibatkan kajian berhubung perundangan berkaitan dengan hal ehwal penjamin bagi sesuatu pinjaman seperti tanggungjawab penjamin, kontrak jaminan dan juga liabiliti penjamin. Turut membincangkan perkara berkaitan masalah-masalah semasa yang timbul berhubung isu penjamin di Malaysia, serta perbandingan dengan undang-undang di negara lain seperti Singapura. Terdapat juga cadangan penambahbaikan terhadap perundangan berhubung isu-isu penjamin di Malaysia.

Malay-Muslim identity has been pivotal to the functioning of the modern nation-state that attained independence from Britain on 31 August 1957 as the Federation of Malaya and became Malaysia on 16 September 1963 with the incorporation of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore into the federation. Malay-Muslims constitute the majority of Malaysia's population, albeit not by an overwhelming percentage, and the definitive features, structures and conventions of the Malaysian state give them control of the major levers of power. Malay-Muslim identity is grounded in the Federal Constitution, but has undergone metamorphoses as a result of shifting boundaries in the conceptualization and praxis of Islam among Malay-Muslims. This article discusses some of the causes and ramifications of the contemporary essentialization of Islamic thought and practice in Malaysia. I argue that a sharia-centric Islamist bias, paradoxically, came close to uniting hitherto opposing sides of the Malay-Muslim religio-political divide during Najib Razak's administration (2009-18).