KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 ― Contenders of the Kuala Lumpur Bar election should avoid playing up religious or racial issues to gain support, lawyers have said.
Alex Anton Netto, a current KL Bar committee member who will be contesting for the chairman post for the first time, said that a lawyer’s worth should be based on merits, instead of factors such as race, religion or seniority.
“My comment on this issue is the state Bar, the Bar should not be a place where we play race or religion, we are a body of professional members, we are a legal body, so a legal body has no place for race and religion to be played.
“If I was elected as a chairman, I plan to be a chairman that represents everybody, regardless of race and religion...we shouldn't be going along racial lines or religious lines because that is not what the Bar is about,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
Fellow KL lawyer Mohd Amir Sharil Bahari Md Noor had offered his candidacy for the KL Bar committee chair post as he wanted to bridge the gap between Muslim and non-Muslim lawyers, claiming that Muslims were under-represented despite forming almost half of the national capital's legal population.
Alex pointed out however that the KL Bar committee is a platform that includes and is open to all of its over 7,000-strong members, adding that there are “no restrictions” preventing anyone of any race or religion from getting involved or taking up positions.
“If it seems that there are fewer people from a particular race that is participating, that has nothing to do with any attempt to prevent a race or religion from contributing.
“The platform is open, you have a Malay, Chinese and Indian who is running for chairman. There is no issue of any particular community or any particular segment which is disallowed from taking up positions or participating,” he said, adding that it is just a “personal choice” on whether lawyers want to get involved.
Any allegation that Muslim lawyers' interests have been sidelined due to their purported under-representation is “unfair”, as the KL Bar committee has not neglected any groups, including the Muslims, he said.
He said the KL Bar would always ensure only food that is halal ― permissible for Muslims to consume ― is provided at its two major yearly events of Annual Dinner and Charity Night where young lawyers raise funds for charity.
“When we do these events, we are very particular to make sure only halal food is served and if we are serving alcohol beverages, there would be a separate counter and non-alcoholic drinks are prepared.
“Not only that, under the state Bar, we have organised talks on Shariah law, Shariah banking and finance. We have always tried to include everybody and be sensitive to everyone, to the needs of Muslims and non-Muslims,” he said, adding that the KL Bar has always invited all members to be an active part of the state Bar.
Those who wish to view Alex's manifesto can click here, where he shares among other things his plans to set up a Small Firms sub-committee to prioritise the bread-and-butter issues of rising costs faced by many small law firms in Kuala Lumpur.
End polarisation
The KL Bar honorary secretary Goh Siu Lin, also a first-time contender like Alex for the chair position, said she would if elected ensure that her committee members are multiracial, multireligious and of varying seniority.
“In a multi-racial and multi-religious community like ours, it is important that we keep race and religion out of the Bar.
“There are certain quarters who intend to radicalise and politicise the Bar along racial and religious lines. We must nip this in the bud and stamp out racism and polarisation,” she told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
Among other things, Goh plans to form a new “Gender, Equity and Diversity” sub-committee to address the needs of women, disabled and indigenous lawyers and to also pursue the provision of dedicated parking lots at the Kuala Lumpur court complex for those who are disabled, pregnant and have health issues.
Those who wish to view Goh's full manifesto can click here, where she also stressed the need to educate KL Bar members about developments abroad in the use of technology and artificial intelligence to enhance legal practice and the addressing of lawyers’ mental wellbeing by reintroducing the “Practitioners’ Affairs’” sub-committee.
Promise of respect
Just slightly over a week after his first video, Amir Bahari had this Monday posted a second video to address feedback from the legal fraternity on his campaign and insisted that his team will be pushing for an “inclusive” KL Bar that will “respect” all its members' religions and cultures.
“I feel there's rumours going around saying that we are only looking into interests of only one particular race or religion only, which I personally feel is not true, because whoever becomes the chairman, they are the chairman for everybody,” he told Malay Mail Online on Tuesday when asked why he had posted the new Youtube video, adding that he had only pledged to discontinue serving alcohol to make the KL Bar Shariah-compliant.
He also argued that he and his team are merely exercising their “democratic right” to express their views by declaring their support for “RUU355”, a proposed amendment of the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 to increase Shariah courts' maximum sentencing powers from three years' jail, RM5,000 fine, six lashes to 30 years' jail, RM100,000 fine and 100 lashes.
Although his campaign has several points that appeared designed specifically to appeal to Muslim lawyers, Amir Bahari reveals that it is part of his strategy to get more Muslim lawyers to come and vote in the AGM today, noting that there was only 100 Muslim lawyers out of the 500 who attended a previous AGM.
The current KL Bar chairman Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal, better known as Ravin Singh, said yesterday that the Bar does not have specific rules on campaigning.
“The Bar is a professional body and our objectives are set out in the Legal Profession Act 1976. Our leaders are to be elected based on capability, experience and the willingness to serve. They are elected regardless of race and religion.
“Once elected, they are to represent all members irrespective of race and religion. We should not allow factors such as race and religion to prevail over merit and quality,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
He was asked if the KL Bar campaign rules allow for religious issues to be used.
