Continuous dialogue: Azalina at the launch of the Madani Media and Communication Convention: Digital and Strategic Communication event in Kepala Batas. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star
KEPALA BATAS: The outcome of the discussions between the Ministry in the Prime Minister’s Department and various stakeholders on the 3R (race, religion and royalty) issue will be tabled at the Cabinet meeting this week, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said the ministers would be briefed on the outcome that was centred on reviewing the effectiveness of existing laws in dealing with the 3R issue.
Azalina said she earlier met with representatives from the Bar Council, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations.
“Some stakeholders feel that the existing law is sufficient to deal with the matter while there are some who say the country needs to emulate other existing laws in foreign countries such as Singapore and Australia.
“It is up to the government to decide whether there is a need for further discussions and studies about enacting new laws or amending the existing ones, especially the Sedition Act 1948.
“For me personally, we need a continuous dialogue not only with the Bar Council, but other stakeholders that include academicians.
“If we do not look at the aspect of unity in Malaysia, the use of 3R elements will always exist in politics,” she said after launching the one-day Madani Media and Communication Convention: Digital and Strategic Communication event yesterday.
Asked if the existing laws should be amended, Azalina said more studies should be conducted and that any amendments made must be kept up with the time.
It was reported that the government was in the midst of reviewing several existing laws to ensure relevance with the current development in the country, including the increasing number of provocation cases relating to 3R issues.
Azalina had said some of the laws to deal with such issues – such as the Sedition Act 1948; Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984; Communications and Multimedia Act 1998; Electoral Offences Act 1954; and the Penal Code – had not been revised for decades.
