PETALING JAYA, Feb 7 — Auctioneers in the country have been allowed to conduct their business as usual pending a final decision by the High Court on the status of their qualifications.

A spokesman from the office of the Registrar of the High Court of Malaya said the order by the court last month stating only auctioneers with credits in SPM in Bahasa Melayu, Mathematics and a pass in English are eligible to continue conducting auctions at the High Court, could be reversed.

The officer, who declined to be named, said auctioneers have been informed to continue their trade pending an official letter from the High Court.

“We have been in touch with them (auctioneers) and they have been told to maintain their (operations).

“They should just continue with their jobs as usual as if they did not receive the earlier letter,” the officer said.

The notice, dated January 6, also stated those between 18 and 60 could continue practising their trade.

The spokesman said the High Court is considering reversing the ruling after receiving feedback from several auctioneers associations.

“We might reverse the ruling entirely but nothing is confirmed yet. We are working on it and a decision would be made, hopefully after the Chinese New Year holidays.”

Malay Mail had in a front page report yesterday highlighted how the High Court ruling could affect the livelihood of 1,500 auctioneers in the country as more than 80 per cent are either above the age limit or they could only meet the standards in one of the three subjects.

The report also highlighted 98 per cent of Malaysian auctioneers carry out auctions at High Courts and auctioneers had lamented how they did not get any cases from the court for the past month following the new ruling.

In welcoming the possible reversal of the order, Council of Auctioneers Malaysia chairman Mustafa Osman said he was happy with the verbal assurance given by the court.

“Our members have been informed about the matter and they are happy with the development. We are now waiting for a black and white confirmation from the High Court and we are looking forward to going back to work after being ‘laid off’ for one month,” he said.

Penang Auctioneers Association chairman Stephen Soon said while news on a possible reversal of the decision offers some relief, he remains pessimistic as he fears the introduction of e-Bidding, an online bidding platform that will replace the manual public auction process in the High Court, is still a threat. 

“The reversing of the ruling is only temporary. Once e-Bidding starts this July, we will be out of jobs again,” he said.

“We should not forget the emergence of e-Bidding would affect our industry and the government must address this issue. Until then, we don’t feel our jobs are secure,” he said.