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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

MIC blames AGC for changing translation of 'parent' in constitution



The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has mistranslated the word "parent" from the Federal Constitution, claimed MIC today.
MIC Youth legal bureau chief R Balamurali said since the constitution was originally in English, the EGC was tasked with reproducing it in Malay, and this has seen the word parent, which was initially translated to "ibu-bapa"(mother and father), eventually turn into "ibu atau bapa" (mother or father).
"MIC believes that the change by the AGC is unjustified and arbitrary. The change grossly misinterprets Article 4(12)," he told a press conference, citing the provision in the constitution that concerns the rights in respect of education that states: "the religion of a person under the age of eighteen years shall be decided by his parent or guardian."
"Also, the change (by the AGC) should not have been made without the Parliament's knowledge," added Balamurali.
He urged the AGC to restore the original translation of the term parent to refer to "ibu-bapa"(mother and father). MIC would also send a letter to the AGC this week, to seek a meeting with the current attorney-general Apandi Ali on the matter, he added.
According to him, the AGC's change happened "sometime in early 2000", which he found after a research into the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) (Amendment) Act 2017 that was passed in Parliament earlier this month.
“We took the time to study various aspects of the bill to see how we could progress.
“We studied the amendment together with other relevant laws, and found that other laws are in harmony with the definition of ‘ibu-bapa' (mother and father),” added the lawyer.
The government had passed the proposed amendment, sans Section 88A, which stipulates:
(1) Where a party to a marriage has converted to Islam, the religion of any child of the marriage shall remain as the religion of the parties to the marriage prior to the conversion, except where both parties to the marriage agree to a conversion of the child to Islam, subject always to the wishes of the child where he or she has attained the age of eighteen years.
(2) Where the parties to the marriage professed different religions prior to the conversion of one spouse to Islam, a child of the marriage shall be at liberty to remain in the religion of either one of the prior religions of the parties before the conversion to Islam.
Had it not been dropped, it could have provided a solution to unilateral conversion problems - many parties, including MIC, had argued.
'No constitutional amendment required'
The government previously reasoned that the constitution needs to be amended before the unilateral conversion issue can be solved and that BN's lack of a two-thirds majority in the Parliament stood in the way.
Today, Balamurali begged to differ. He said solving unilateral conversions could be triggered by merely getting the EGC to rectify its translation.

“I don’t think it’s necessary to amend the federal constitution at this point of time because if the translation is set right, it (the definition of parent) will be clear.
“We want a solution within the framework of the constitution,” he explained.
MIC is even open to working with any party, including the opposition, if it needs a constitutional amendment to solve the issue, he said.
Previously, several DAP lawmakers have said they were willing to back any amendments to the constitution that would put an end to unilateral conversion. - Mkini

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