1,500 auctioneers at risk of losing jobs

PETALING JAYA, Feb 6  —  About 1,500 auctioneers in the country are waiting with bated breath to know if they will still have a job in the coming days.

Their predicament comes after receiving a letter from the High Court last month stating only auctioneers with credits in SPM Bahasa Melayu (BM), Mathematics and a pass in English are eligible to continue as High Court auctioneers.

The notice, dated Jan 6, also stated only those between the age of 18 and 60 can continue practising their trade.

Council of Auctioneers Malaysia chairman Mustafa Osman said the sudden announcement meant at least 80 per cent of experienced auctioneers are now in a limbo over their future.

He said about 80 to 85 per cent of High Court auctioneers are above 60 or meet the standards in only one of the three subjects, while only a handful qualify under the new rules set by the High Court.

“We sent a memorandum of appeal to the High Court and requested for a meeting to find out what prompted the directive,” Mustafa said.

“We are still clueless on our fate and we hope we can come to a balanced decision without affecting so many people at one time,” said Mustafa, 72, who has been an auctioneer for 17 years.

The order, issued by the Registrar of the High Court of Malaya to all High Courts, was subsequently emailed to all High Court-appointed auctioneers.

The notice required auctioneers to personally submit documents, including their identity card, SPM certificate and auctioneer licence to the respective state High Courts.

Mustafa said he had been having sleepless nights as he received endless calls from auctioneers who are worried about their livelihood.

Following the association's memorandum, the High Court of Malaya had proposed a meeting to be held with three representatives from the association to discuss the matter.

Penang Auctioneers Association chairman Stephen Soon questioned the rationale of the new ruling.

“Does a SPM certificate carry more weight than the practising licence of auctioneers awarded by state governments? The new ruling is a slap to the credibility of state governments as well as the High Court as they were the ones who appointed us,” he said.

Soon, 37, who was the first Malaysian to hold an auction for Bank Negara, meets the age requirement but he only managed to pass his BM paper.

“By principle, I will not re-sit the SPM Bahasa Melayu paper because it shows the SPM certificate has higher value than my auctioneer licence,” he said.

“But auctioning is my rice bowl and I have a young family to support. If the ruling is not reversed, I will be forced to resit the paper.”

Soon, who has won multiple awards throughout his career, said 98 per cent of Malaysian auctioneers carry out auctions at High Courts.

“The other two per cent have no problems as they get contracts from banks to carry our auctions,” he said.

Soon also said setting an age limit was irrational.

“Let's compare auctioneers and lawyers. Have you heard of lawyers being barred from practising after hitting 60? With age comes experience and that is why we always prefer senior lawyers handling our cases, just like auctioneers,” Soon said.

“For the past month since we were rejected, we did not get any cases from the High Court. Only those fitting the new ruling received assignments.”

Another auctioneer, Ong Kim Thye, 70, labelled the new ruling as ridiculous and said auctioneers ought to be treated with respect as they were professionals.

“As professionals, we should be given the liberty to choose when to retire, and it is unfair and wrong for the courts to decide on it,” he said.

Ong, who has been in the trade for 40 years, said many of his colleagues were full-time auctioneers and their livelihood would be affected by the new ruling.

On Jan 8, Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria announced e-Bidding will be introduced in July to replace the manual Public Auction process in the High Court of Malaya.

He was quoted as saying the bidding process will be more transparent with e-Bidding as it will be opened to more prospective bidders.

This will also help hasten the debt recovery process. The new system, it was reported, will also eliminate syndicates interfering with the bidding process.