Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.
– Mark Twain, American writer
Freedom of speech and expression has become a political landmine in that one could get caught in the vortex of one’s thoughts getting wrongly expressed as words swirling in the whirlwind of interpretation and context of the law.
Governments go on a trajectory to slowly chip away at this freedom well cloaked in charges of sedition, defamation, contempt of court and violating official secrets.
Americans vehemently believe that this particular freedom is the hallmark, if not the very bulwark of a democracy although it has understandable restrictions under the law usually ravaged by faulty and defective interpretations.
Article 1 of the US Bill of Rights is a jealous and zealous guarantee when it chimes, among other things, that Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…
Americans growl when any freedoms in the Bill of Rights are likely to be restrained, constrained or restricted. The federal courts offer a roller-coaster ride in interpreting the law, but the “Congress shall make no law…” phrase is unmistakably blatant in its intent, and flagrant in its content and extent.
Locally, Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution offers every citizen the right to freedom of speech and expression subject to censorship enumerated in sub-sections (2) and (3).
Keeping a constant vigil on who is skating on thin ice is the Sedition Act (Act 15) 1948 although Section 2 grants generous immunities which are yet to be tried and tested in a court of law.
Today, the sanctity, not just the independence of the judiciary, is interwoven with and enmeshed in twists, spins, and turns given the attitude of suspect laws and questionable constitutional provisions.
Great amusement is generated when citations of English, American and Australian decisions appear in Malaysian jurisprudence because it has no relevance to our zeitgeist except to make a point in the wind.
In the west, the concept of freedom of speech and expression travels at a different trajectory, and operates in a different frequency very much dissimilar to ours. Inheriting a western tradition has its constitutional thunderstorms.
For example, Article 126 of the Federal Constitution (FC) which grants the power to punish for contempt of court may very well be the nemesis for, or anathema to freedom of speech and expression.
It is interesting to consider whether Article 126 is qualified by Article 127 FC granting the power to Parliament to discuss the conduct of a judge of the High Court, Court of Appeal or Federal Court on a substantive motion by parliamentarians.
It seems awkward that Article 127 FC hovers like a dark cloud over the independence of the judiciary — a concept that is absent in the FC except for its insistence in very rare decided cases.
The lines are usually blurred when freedom of speech and expression almost seem like an adage or an aphorism.
Article 121 FC is preambled with the phrase Judicial power of the federation. Interestingly enough, the word power is not attached to or inserted into existing constitutional language concerning Parliament or the Executive. That is a bright beacon on the hill of judicial independence.
Language is the dress of thought, but it seems scary that bereft of mathematical accuracy, precision and certainty, a thought can very well be expressed in words and phrases that is likely to ensnare the user whose primary intention not to harm anyone is not reckless or irresponsible.
A heftily fined news portal was recently vindicated when within a few hours the massively supportive public raised more money than was required for the fine.
I strongly believe Malaysia will come of age when we begat that rare combination of a discerning member of the public, a nonconformist minister, a courageous judge unfazed by an unpopular but correct decision, and a prosecutor not just looking for a conviction.
America’s first president, George Washington, warned that if the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. In short, burn down the slaughterhouse.
Come what may, the governed are no longer naïve or nervous. The opportunity to freely communicate these days has become a total blessing when the rakyat democratically owns ether and by default, cyberspace.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
