“It looks to me to be a systematic strategy by the federal government to take away the constitutional rights of Sabah and Sarawak.” – Voon Lee Shan
KUCHING: Former Batu Lintang assemblyman Voon Lee Shan doubts there is any good intention in whosoever drafted the Legal Profession Bill 2019.
“To me, it looks to be a job from the federal government. Nobody could be such busybody to do such a job (except the federal government),” Voon said in response to a statement made by Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii.
Dr Yii had said, “The bill is basically a proposal to get feedback from the Bar (Council) members and its associates.”
But Voon refused to buy that, saying, “It looks to me to be a systematic strategy by the federal government to take away the constitutional rights of Sabah and Sarawak.”
Voon, a practising lawyer, said if the Bill were to be tabled in Parliament, it would be passed because Sabah and Sarawak do not have enough votes to oppose it.
“Pakatan Harapan MPs from Sabah and Sarawak may speak against the Bill during the debate, but they would be expected to vote for the Bill because they are bound to support their own PH government,” he pointed out.
Voon said once passed as law and extended to Sabah and Sarawak, the livelihood of lawyers here would be affected.
“Lawyers in Borneo States may not be able to compete with lawyers from Malaya because law firms from Malaya are many, and most are much bigger than any law firms here.
“Since banks and insurance companies are from Malaya, they would, for convenience, prefer to deal with law firms from Malaya and not with law firms in the Borneo States,” he said.
He added lawyers from Malaya will then be engaged by Petronas to re-file the suit against Sarawak government to claim exclusive rights over all oil and gas in the state under the Petroleum Development Act 1974.
“I hope Dr Yii would be able to find the source of the bill,” Voon said, adding, “Sabah and Sarawak have their own laws to regulate the legal profession in both Borneo states.
