KNOW YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

The next general elections are not due till 2013, but it can never be too early for Malaysian voters to learn as much as they can about the constitution, the electoral system, and their rights as citizens of the country. The Bar Council's Constitutional Law Committee has initiated a series of public forums with support from the High Commissioner of Canada to help ordinary folks like me understand the constitution better. Visit My Constitution on Facebook to find out more.

Last Thursday I attended the second forum in the series - "Federal-State Relations: Should states be given more power?" The three speakers were Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, MP, Haji Sulaiman Abdullah and Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, both high profile advocates and solitors. 

As I am not a political blogger, I shall not comment here about what was shared at the forum. Suffice to let you read for yourself at Ku Li's blog. On March 8 I attended another forum "March 8: Two Years Later". The speakers were former journalist Kee Thuan Chye, and lawyer/activist Haris Ibrahim. You can view part of the forum here.

As concerned citizens, it is our duty to educate ourselves on the constitution, the electoral system and our rights as citizens. Voting is not a matter of simply putting an X on the ballot next to the candidate who looks the least evil of the lot, or who represents the party that is the least likely to do damage. We have to read up, find out more and keep track of what's brewing in the political arena.

Managing Editor of The Star P. Gunasegaram says it best in his article "Make Your Vote Count". Do read it and make sure you do the right thing at the next election. Get your family members and friends to register as voters if they have not done so. Every vote counts - for the future of our country, our children and grandchildren. Do your part.

Note: The Bar Council's next forum is on "Oil Royalty - A Constitutional Right?". Speakers are Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Prof Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, Dato' Cecil Abraham and Tommy Thomas. Date: 20 March 2010. Time: 10am-1pm. Venue: Bar Council Auditorium, Level 1.