The Kuala Lumpur Traveler

If you are into Malaysian politic, you would not forget Rais Yatim. He is one Minister, who had critcised the International Security Act (ISA) in his thesis for a PhD, but changed his skin just like that when he rejoined UMNO and was appointed a cabinet minister in-charge of law… and defended the ISA like his own baby.

A legal scholar, in his thesis for his PhD, “Freedom Under Executive Power in Malaysia” remarked in page 290-291:

“It is common practice that the Minister of Home Affairs signs detention papers purely basing his findings on the briefs supplied by the police. There have been instances in the past when detention orders were signed by the Minister or his deputy just within hours before the expiration of the respective detention period. In its practical sense and in such a case, the Minister cannot be said to have used his subjective faculties to satisfy himself that the detention ought to have been made because he has not read the police reports in their entirety. It could therefore be said that when a man is sent to a detention camp the Minister is making a political decision about the rights and liberties of the subject solely upon the recommendation of the police.”

The legal scholar was also then a leader of the opposition Semangat 46 party. Later, the party was dissolved and he, Rais Yatim, rejoined UMNO, and became a cabinet minister, was in charge of law, and ironically, defended the ISA – something which he heavily criticised in his doctoral thesis.

Source: Nik Nazmi

With that kind of quality the BN ministers are having, it is no wonder then, when the same Minister, now heading the Foreign Affair Department, came up with a rubbish proposal…. to require women going abroad alone to get family consent to prevent them from being used as “drug mules” by international syndicates.

Ha.. ha.. ha.. I could just laugh at this Minister’s way of thinking. In the first place, why women only? What about men? Anyway, What a Lulu has a good take on this here.

On the positive side though, if there is a special department overseeing all ministers affairs, Rais would be 100% fit to lead that the department. He then would ensure all ministers would get consent from their respective families, or wives, or better still from their voters in their constituencies before doing anything. For example, Muhammad Muhammad Taib would have to get consent from his constituents first before taking that millions of dollars in his briefcase into Australia. Or lately, one ex-Cabinet Minister would have to get consent from his wife first before attending the function at a hotel where he had made sexual advances on a woman there. Sounds like a great idea? What do you think?

Photo credit: Jeff Ooi

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