The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 17 Feb 2013 07:41 AM PST A resource for engagement with and critical discourse on our Constitution, this book should find its place in every Malaysian's library. The Constitution Of Malaysia: A Contextual Analysis A CONSTITUTION document is but a written text, its practice and survival uncertain and fragile. The Proclamation of Independence of Malaya dated Aug 31, 1957, contained the stirring words to the effect that the new nation will advance as a Constitutional monarchy based on a Parliamentary democracy. With this statement the goal of nationhood was articulated, and that elusive yearning for the realisation of "the imagined community" (as Benedict Anderson's time worn phrase puts it) was launched. This work is part of the Hart Publishing (www.hartpub.co.uk) series on Constitutional systems of the world; Dr Andrew Harding is general coeditor of the series with Peter Leyland. Harding's book is a compendious stock taking of the uncertain journey of this text that was to inform, demarcate and delineate the contesting polities of nascent nationalism. What is compelling about this work is that it weaves a narrative out of the dry bones of the text, a narrative that teases out the leitmotif of Malaysia as exemplary of a Developmental State. The survival of the Constitution is by no means an assured historical fact. Whether the so-called Merdeka Constitution has been amended beyond its substance and identity is a major subtext of Harding's reflections in The Constitution Of Malaysia: A Contextual Analysis. Harding is a pre-eminent jurist and has taught, mentored and written on the Malaysian Constitution for decades. Currently, he is professor of law and director of the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. He brings his learning to bear on eight major trajectories that confront Malaysian experience with the Federal Constitution. The learning is worn lightly, however, and concerned citizenry with no legal training will find a sure guide through the structure of the Constitutional labyrinth. The historical backdrop is sketched admirably and deftly interweaves each chapter. Chapter two is an overture to the whole work. In this section, the narrative of a dominant Executive that extended its grasp into all levels of governance is set out clearly. The office of the Prime Minister being intolerant of inhibitions, whether judicial or juristic, based on the mantra of development is ably charted. The debate over what is the nature and scope of the Malaysian social contract is analysed together with its "ineluctable conundrums". The analysis of the fate of the Parliamentary democracy and the tensions of pluralism within a tenuous democratic state is realistic here while also being hopeful. There are harsh realities of power configurations and competing elites impatient at being circumscribed in their assertions of power interests. Harding draws us a canvas of such competitiveness, including the 1983 Rulers Crisis and the 1988 judicial impeachment of the Chief Justice and the five Supreme Court judges. Post the watershed event of May 13, 1969, Parliament could have been eclipsed completely but the so called Rukunegara amendments of early 1970s demonstrated its obituary was premature. However, the amendments since then still cast a long shadow over entrenched rights. General elections are given a concise treatment in chapter three, which charts Malaysia's election processes with the useful and stimulating role of political parties in the Dewan Rakyat. The analysis of the role of Constitutional Rulers is intriguingly placed under the rubric of territorial governance linked to State Constitutions. One of the paradoxes of modern Constitutionalism is that there is evidence that regimes with a Constitutional monarch can have sound democratic practices, and Malaysia's experience in this is illustrative. There are challenging cases, though, as seen in the Perak Mentri Besar 2009 case of Nizar v Zambry in which the people's sovereignty as represented by the office of Chief Minister yielded to a judicial ruling in favour of the Ruler's residual power of dismissal. Harding's cautionary note on this case is salutary, and his caution that it "is not apparent in the Constitutional text or in the general understanding of conventions" gives us reason for critical pause. Many such comments illuminate the cases discussed in this book, which will be a boon to lawyers and also political scientists. Conventions and their role in construing the Constitution is a pervasive issue (for example the Tun Mustapha v Pairin case in 1985) that raises conflict and argumentation. Here, political morality intersects with Constitutional governance, a fertile locus for deeper investigations. Chapter six, on human rights and the authoritarian state, hits the right notes, and the intersection of liberal democracy with an emphasis on a rights-based approach with weak institutional support in the face of emergency powers is desultorily described. A hopeful but realistic note is sounded in describing Suhakam's (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) work. A section on indigenous people's rights closes a fascinating chapter. The concluding chapters on the judiciary and also the role of religion augment the work with analytical finesse. The religious tension over burials, custody of children, apostasy and the use of "Allah" in non-Muslim texts are where the deep waters of Constitutional interpretation will continue to reverberate. As Malaysia faces the demands of dominant ethnic-religious elements with claims of modernity and a secular ethos, the fate of our nation will in part be determined by how much the Malaysian Constitution still matters and how it can arbitrate between and reconcile warring factions. If it is not to suffer the fate of the Weimar Constitution (of Germany, after WWI) or many African Constitutions, it will be in part because us readers have pondered the lessons contained within the pages of this admirable work. This book should find its place in every person's library; while there are occasions when one can demur from the writer's opinion, The Constitution Of Malaysia: A Contextual Analysis is, nevertheless, a resource for engagement and vital critical discourse. The Constitution Of Malaysia: A Contextual Analysis will be launched in Malaysia on Feb 23 at 11am at Pusat Rakyat LoyarBurok (No. 3-4, 4th Floor, Jalan Bangsar Utama 3, Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur). Author Andrew Harding will be present to discuss his book. Malaysian lawyer Philip Koh co-edited Sheridan & Groves' The Constitution Of Malaya (5th Edition) and has been involved in a number of landmark public and Constitutional cases. |
| Posted: 17 Feb 2013 12:57 AM PST FOR the week ending Feb 10, 2012: Non-fiction 1. Syed Mokhtar Albukhary: A Biography by Premilla Mohanlall 2. Physics Of The Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny And Our Daily Lives By The Year 2100 by Michio Kaku 3. Chicken Soup For The Soul: The Power Of Positive by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark 4. Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic 5. 1D: The One Direction Story: The Unauthorized Biography by Danny White 6. Lincoln: Team Of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin 7. Quiet by Susan Cain 8. Escape From Camp 14 by Blaine Harden 9. The Return Of A King: The Battle For Afghanistan by William Dalrymple 10. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin Fiction 1. Safe Haven (movie tie-in) by Nicholas Sparks 2. Life Of Pi by Yann Martel 3. One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern 4. Admission (movie tie-in) by Jean Hanff Korelitz 5. Les Misérables (movie tie-in) by Victor Hugo 6. The Hobbit (movie tie-in) by J.R.R. Tolkien 7. Lullaby (Watersong #2) by Amanda Hocking 8. The Host (movie tie-in) by Stephenie Meyer 9. Low Pressure by Sandra Brown 10. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Weekly list compiled by MPH Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur; www.mphonline.com. |
| Posted: 17 Feb 2013 12:52 AM PST Battling colds, a flu, an ache or two? There, go there to a bookstore, a book is waiting. YOU do know, don't you, readers, that among the thousands of books on the bookshelves of any bookstore, magic awaits? This magic, however, is uncanny, suspicious – and trivial in the eyes of those who have no love for books. We should tell these people yet to be spellbound by this magic, shouldn't we, that if they sift through the shelves mindfully, they will unravel some great reads and experience the pleasures and excitement that you and I have all these years? We mustn't whisper, readers. The greatness of books should be made known to all in great voices, not just to those who eavesdrop. But how can I convince them to buy a book and experience for themselves the joy of reading? We can't, you say? Yes, I can if I can tell them how wonderfully obsessed I am of late with Donna Tartt's The Little Friend and how throughout the course of relishing it, I have for several times stared at it, completely awestruck by the magnetic power of fiction. The Little Friend has provided me with comfort in my combat with a nasty viral infection, prevalent when summer and autumn indiscernibly swap their places here, Down Under. In the middle of the night when I wake with sweat gathered on my forehead despite the chill air, the sight of The Little Friend at my bedside table soothes, as it did last night when my temperature reached 39°C. And if I am sensible enough to ignore its temptation, the anticipation of reading it again when day breaks will lull me back to sleep. The best way to chase away the worsening flu is to stay in bed and read, and I am doing just that. I want to know how Robin, the little nine-year-old boy, ends up hanging by the neck from a tree in his front garden and no one knows about it. The mystery needs to be unlocked, but Tartt loves to takes her time, filling us instead with suspenseful dribs and drabs that antagonise even as they entice. Her prose suits me, as it drowns me in suspense, allowing me to be excused from my household chores and to be a detective, albeit a rather unhealthy one. Truly, I have gazed at the book several times, wishing the whole world knows what a wonderfully enticing story it contains within. The last time when I was sick it, too, it was Tartt's book that healed me – The Secret History. It is only at my most vulnerable moments can I muster the courage to read something of my own choice. At other times, I read books that need to be read for the benefit of other readers and to vindicate the boundless joy books bring. From the onset, I can tell straight away that Al Gore's latest is a book every one of us must get our hands on. It is spot on in how it deals with the world's emergent changes as well as a host of other converging changes that are taking place in our lifetimes. "We have gone through revolutionary periods of change before, but none as powerful or as pregnant with the fraternal twin – peril and opportunity – as the ones that are beginning to unfold," muses Gore in the introduction (where I last stopped to combat the flu). Thick but not at all indigestible and with every bit relevant, the book is in my study, luring me to it – in the same way Kishore Mahbubani is ensnaring me from one of the tables in my sitting room. A former Singaporean diplomat, Mahbubani thinks now is the best time for the "West And The Rest" (to quote from Niall Ferguson's book title). His long-term optimism is not without challenges, but he offers solutions. But books of this sort need to be gnawed at slowly, and at time like this when my throat is sore and my head aches, it is best to indulge in fiction, don't you think? So, in bed now and resting again, I am back with my Little Friend. A hundred pages into it, not a sentence unimpressive, not a single description unmemorable, no character nondescript and not one turn of event expected. It is a wonderful book, more than wonderful enough to douse you in pleasure, my dear reader, if you have not already immersed yourself in reading it. So let's read. Books sing a paean to the beauty of the human character even as they epitomise its ugliness. In a contrived world where truth is fabricated, it is best to indulge in fiction where truth is blatant and unyielding, and to rub shoulders with nonfiction where erstwhile truth is told in future terms. There, go there to a bookstore, a book is waiting. n While battling his flu, Abby's son is reading Terry Deary's Horrible Histories series about the frightful First World War. It is healing him, he says, though the ghost soldiers give me the creeps. |
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