New Straits Times 2008/07/03 KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth has lashed out at Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar for hinting that action would be taken against the Malaysian Bar Council for holding a Social Contract Forum last Saturday. Its legal bureau chief, Gan Ping Sieu, was disappointed with Syed Hamid for saying that the police could begin investigations if a report was lodged against the Bar Council for sedition. "Discussing the process of drafting the Constitution, including its historical background and reasons, must not be interpreted as questioning the Malays' special position," he said in a statement yesterday. He added that no one should object to organisations or bodies which conducted forums to discuss the Federal Constitution objectively and rationally, without distorting the facts. It was reported that speakers at the forum -- lawyer Tommy Thomas, academic Dr Mavis Puthucheary and political analysts Dr Kua Kia Soong and Dr Farish Noor -- discussed Article 153 of the Federal Constitution in relation to Malay rights. Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam had also criticised the forum, saying it was part of the Bar Council's move to suppress and discredit the Malays and Islam. Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had called the forum an "unhealthy" development, adding that the social contract on the position and rights of the Malays was a historical fact. Gan, however, argued that the forum was needed because the public had the right to clearly understand Article 153. He said the MCA believed that all Malaysians were knowledgeable and mature enough to openly discuss any matter related to the Constitution. "Anyone who wants to prevent such forums has actually gone against freedom of speech as enshrined in the Federal Constitution." --

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