Does our inspector-general of police (IGP) know the law? After all he is our chief law enforcement officer. He should, after all he is sworn to uphold the federal constitution, and the constitution says of itself that ‘it is the supreme law of the federation’.
He is the sole authority for upholding the constitution in Malaysia; other than the attorney-general (AG). Now, what is so difficult to understand and truly appreciate the words, ‘supreme law of the federation?’ The late Prof Ahmad Ibrahim was my constitutional law teacher, and he did not teach me wrong. It is not even called ‘official’ or anything else less; ‘supreme’ has an absolute meaning; much like our concept of ‘God.’
My next question does not relate to the lack of knowledge, or intelligence, or IQ of the IGP. It relates to the differing roles we all assume, premised and founded upon role theory. It states that we all assume different roles in life. Based on these different roles assumed, we assume different responsibilities and duties for the specified roles; as expected by the related community.
So, for example, the IGP may be a father and thus he assumes some responsibilities of a father, and some of this is even defined by common law. Another example, it is assumed that he will send his children to school; regardless of whether they are boys or girls, or even if they are disabled in some way.
Yet another, as a community resident, he also has a role as a member of community wherever he lives; and not just his religious ‘quariah,’ but also to the basic community of all human beings where he is domiciled.
Public and private roles and responsibilities
The above are his private roles in which he can apply his private convictions to seek out his personal preferences for intentional actions, or select inactions in each case for choices he makes. But, in his role as the IGP, i.e. his public role, this is not a personal or preferential convictional issue but the rule of law according to the constitution of the Federation of Malaysia.
In case he really has no idea what that is, which is very often the case with incompetent and ‘idiocratic public servants,’ he should subscribe to Malaysiakini , as it is now obvious that even PM Najib Abdul Razak reads it; and learns from all the many educated Malaysians who write for and with Malaysiakini to express all their full range of views and protests. The PM can even sue for wrong-doing.
Let me state all this in a way that the IGP cannot dismiss what I say. I was trained by none other than the best of the best Malaysia could offer, in the days when Universiti Malaya (UM) a world class university was, and when only the best could get in.
But, sadly after the 1970s and the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP), all our public universities were slowly bastardised from their original philosophical underpinnings, and became small fiefdoms of feudalistic empires of control and manipulation; with some exceptions though. In the field of knowledge, power does not rule; logic rules and if you not know, you learn.
From my perspective, even our public law schools have drifted away from the foundations of our common law legal systems and principles, premised upon the British heritage of English common law. Our constitutional jurisprudence has that same philosophical foundation but we have now veered away.
How else could our AG be so blind; not even understanding the basics? He was unfortunately trained in another ‘Melayu establishment,’ called Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). My question to the founders and creators of the current UiTM is: who are really the very best you have trained in every field, and what code of ethics do these practice in their everyday lives? Are they now fully subscribed to ‘total Muslim law jurisprudence?’ Do they know our constitution?
My other question is: what numbers of graduate natives or Sabah, Sarawak, and Malaya were trained by UiTM? And then tell me now, why I should not call it a Melayu establishment created post-1970 ‘to preserve the ‘Malay race and culture’. But then the word, ‘bumiputera’ does not exist in our constitution? A confused IGP?
If the IGP is genuinely confused, please let him resign and let someone else take over. If there is no one else, please find any former president of the Bar Council and ask them to be the interim IGP for this nation-state we call Malaysia, before we end up splitting up into many parts because of such myopic interpretations.
That person can then be held fully accountable to a Council of Advisers made up of former IGPs and other equally distinguished individuals, before actually taking action on any serious matter. I am very serious about this but completely exasperated with such profound ignorance of the constitution in the public services.
One of the best lecturers on counter-intelligence and strategic surveillance with regards to the psychology of communist sympathisers at Police College at Kuala Kubu Baru (KKB) was none other than CC Too. He trained an entire generation of Administrative and Diplomatic Service (PTD) officers, who were sent to KKB for their Intan basic training.
One, in particular, thanked me personally after many years, when I met him serving at our embassy in Cairo in 1980, as he had learned much from the Police College training and also the military exposure; from the Malaysian Army Combat Training Centre (Pulada), the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) at Woodlands, and the Air Base at Kuantan.
Em-couragement, not encouragement
The problem with the modern world is not that we do not have encouragement to do what is right. What we lack, in a systemic way, is the ability to know and do the right things, and then to do them in the right ways. That ability requires more than head-knowledge; it requires heart-felt conviction about rights and wrongs, and then the ability to pursue the right path regardless of consequences.
I therefore call it ‘the spirit of em-couragement,’ or the capacity to put in courage, when it is lacking and then do the right things, regardless of consequences.
Not all have such courage, most are ‘wishy washy individuals’ who use their power to pursue personal preservation goals and often sacrifice the public interest for self-interest reasons. They play politics with their job assignment, and often the victim is the public truth of any matter; which is the basis of all public policy.
Therefore I conclude with the following words for the IGP:
Either do what you are sworn to do, or please resign because your self-preservation interests are not allowing you to undertake your job as the chief legal enforcement office of Malaysia!
The appointment of the IGP is sworn to uphold the constitution; which includes the position and status of all rulers as sultans of states, as constitutional monarchs. If the IGP is now confused, can you imagine the even greater trauma, if the Umno folk of Johor decide to take on their yoyalty over some recent issues and concerns.
May God grant all public officials more clarity about their roles and responsibilities of public office as defined by the constitution. Below was therefore my condolence note at the passing of the late sultan of Perak.
My sincere condolences to the Perak royal family for the passing of their elder person. Nonetheless, the public roles we all assume will be duly judged by the people; as that is the nature of the public office.
I saw him as upstanding in the roles he assumed; whether as chief judge, or as sultan. But, at the end of one\’s life, we are judged for the integrity with which we have lived that life and related opportunities; including missed ones.
I can only pray that in his last days; he made amends for the injustice the judicial system made regarding the Perak royalty, when they convicted Karpal Singh for sedition. As sultan and as a former judge whose words ring true in legal halls, he failed to tell the AG not to wrongly pursue the \’lame accusation\’ of Karpal Singh.
Moreover, I do not know if he sent his condolences to Karpal’s family for his passing. Those acts would have helped redefine his lack of personal integrity made visible through his differing public roles for which he was famous and came under the public spotlight. Let God be judge.
