Written by: Averroes
For the past couple of days, we are stunned by the incident that rocked Malaysia if the endless barrages of hate thrown by Malaysian netizens online. This concerns the Kedah flag being hung upside down and street signs in Kuching being vandalized by irresponsible individuals.
For the situation in Langkawi, the perpetrators were Bangladeshi national aged 32 who was an employee to a restaurant owner in Pekan Pandak Mayah, Kuah. The Chief Police of Langkawi, Supt Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said that before being alerted by the public after an image of the Kedah flag flown upside down, it became viral on social media.
This was because, the owner of the restaurant aged 58 ordered his worker to hung the flag. Though following orders, he may not really understand the implication and how sensitive Malaysians can get because of this. They were arrested at 6pm after a report was lodged against them.
Hence, the incident is being investigated as under section 504 of the Penal Code (Intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace),
"Whoever intentionally insults, and thereby gives provocation to any person, intending or knowing it to be likely that such provocation will cause him to break the public peace, or to commit any other offence, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both."
Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 (insulting behaviour),
"Any person who uses any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behaves in a threatening or insulting manner, or posts up or affixes or exhibits any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting written paper or drawing with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or whereby a breach of the peace is likely to be occasioned, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ringgit."
As well as section 39B of the Immigration Act 1959/63,
Though the author could not find the whole text for the reproduction, the online version was the 2006 amendment version as there might be new amendments after such year. Though, it is probable that this provision applies to challenge the validity of the Bangladeshi immigrant who came to work here as he does not have a valid permit and only provided photocopy documents.
For the street board issue, it all began when the DAP youths known as Dapsy alleged that the Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU) added Mandarin letters onto the street board which they claim was removed by DBKU. On Facebook, the group pasted Mandarin characters on Jalan Main Bazaar, Wayang Street and Jalan Greenhill street signs which was shared 3,000 times and had 8,000 comments. Though as of now, the post might have more numbers or may have been deleted as of now.
They also say that the Mandarin characters were necessary to assist Chinese tourists visiting Kuching as it is the usual business of having two main languages on street boards. Though, the Persekutuan Persatuan Cina Sarawak (SFCA) states that it may be a good move to promote linguistic diversity, though it should not be done to the extent of infringing laws.
According to the President of the organisation, Datuk Richard Wee, he commented that Puhak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT), Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (MBKS) and Majlis Perbandaran Padawan (MPP) and (DBKU) as stated before will their own plannings as the city management rests in their hands and any changes to the street signs must have approval from them as they have the authority.
A member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman states that such action would amount to a political gimmick, and racial intonations is not allowed in Sarawak consisting of various races, faiths and background. He had stated a few laws regarding this which includes the Sedition Act 1948, the Federal Constitution and the National Language Acts 1963/1967.
Each of the laws specify as follows,
Sedition Act 1948 whereby,
Section 2 provides for the interpretation, the substance of the offence is provided under section 3(1)(e) and (f) where respectively,
"To promote feelings of ill will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia;"
or
"To question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III of the Federal Constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution."
The punishment is then provided as under section 4(1) for fine of not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment up to 3 years or both for the first time the offence is committed.
Article 152(1) of the Federal Constitution,
"The national language shall be the Malay language and shall be in such script as Parliament may by law provide:"
Section 2 of the National Language Acts 1963/1967 (for official purposes),
"Save as provided in this Act and subject to the safeguards contained in Article 152(1) of the Constitution relating to any other language and the language of any other community in Malaysia the national language shall be used for official purposes."
In conclusion, we have to understand that the Bangladeshi worker might not not or is not well-verse with Malaysian symbolism, regalias and national identities. All problems does not necessarily require legal punishments. For that, the person who applied for a police report should have instead talked with the restaurant owner and the immigrant worker and settle down so to have a more civilized discussion without making their own assumptions and quickly punishing them both.
For the signboard, I also do agree that as country diverse with a multitude of races and beliefs, it is our duty and responsibility to celebrate and uphold our differences as we should not use rhetoric and politics to pollute our precious cultural and heritage identities. If we were to assist Chinese foreign tourists, it is already enough for them to understand English or even attempt to learn our National Language, Bahasa Malaysia when they come over. Besides, blatantly altering the sign boards is deplorable stunt of vandalism.
Therefore, we must preserve the peace, harmony and prosperity of our country from being continuously perverted by irresponsible individuals while maintain a common mutual understanding and have proper discussions before deciding to punish someone.
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