A Sensitive Bunch

I realise that we, Malaysians, as a group of people are quite a sensitive bunch especially so when something is being put to question. It seems that no matter how legitimate the intention of the question is, we will still somehow manage to see it in a negative light. Quite how this is becoming a trend in our society I do not assume to comprehend.

So far the controversial issue of the Klang Municipal Councilors abusing their powers is slowly ebbing away. However, when the reports were initially rife in the mass media, the people involved (namely the councilors themselves) became utterly sensitive to the issue at hand. Many fingers were pointed to many different alleged wrong parties and at the strong protests of innocence that they pleaded, one would have been forgiven to accept the illusion that they were indeed free from such allegation and even sympathise with their predicament. They became too sensitive until they lost track of the objective at hand. They were indeed wrong when they breached the law by not submitting their building plans to the local authorities. Since this issue is now almost settled after the timely intervention of the Sultan of Selangor, I would hope that it will finally now be laid to rest. But, just imagine if the Sultan was himself taking a very personal look at this issue, this issue would probably never have found a solution. This in itself shows the significance of a calm head and it speaks a thousand words about the wisdom of our Ruler to come out and defuse.

Another issue close to my heart is the fiasco surrounding the CLP examinations. When I was in my cold lecture rooms in Oxford, I was repeatedly told that 'justice must not only be done but be seen to be done'. At that time, I thought it was common sense and never could understand why it was repeatedly fed to us time and time again. Now I know why!

Many people have gone on to request more transparency in the marking of the CLP paper. Candidates of the CLP have been vocal with what they feel is injustice by denying them any form of transparency in the marking of the CLP papers. I on my part can feel their frustration. The Attorney General of Malaysia has gone on record commenting that the papers were marked by distinct people of the legal fraternity and there is no merit in doubting their integrity. I wholeheartedly agree with our Attorney General. But, I feel he is not answering the question at hand. No one thus far has doubted the integrity of the markers. All they want is some semblance of transparency so they can know if the markers did go wrong and if they did not, then it will definitely serve the purpose of showing the candidates themselves what they had erred and hopefully help them correct these weaknesses. The markers themselves although undisputedly respected icons of the legal fraternity are only human and are thus susceptible to mistakes. There is a Malay saying: ‘bumi mana yang tidak di timpa hujan’ which simply translates that no one is perfect. I believe there is no malice in this request for transparency. Indeed, justice must be seen to be done as only then will people have confidence in the legal system.

I would offer some minor suggestions in the sincere hope that it will benefit the nation and satisfy both our aspiring lawyers and our current Bar Council.

1. There must be some scrutiny on the providers of the CLP. It can’t possibly be true that every time the poor passing rate of the CLP is published, outsiders will ultimately blame the quality of the students. It is not true anymore that CLP students are law students who failed to enter the Bar Exams in the UK. Many of the CLP students of today come of well respected universities and are outstanding students at degree level. The providers of the CLP must be scrutinized to ensure that the quality and scope of teaching is sufficient for a tough professional examination like the CLP.

2. There should be more transparency in the marking. The markers should release a rough marking guide so that the candidates know what is being demanded from them. Perhaps, the markers could give talks and/or seminars to the candidates so that they are aware of the passing requirements. Without giving reasons for their marking, there can’t be a proper appeal system for a candidate. Ideally there must be an appeal system as it is only fair through the course of natural justice. I may be wrong but we were always taught in law school that there should always ideally be an appeal system in any decision making to ensure that justice and fairness prevails. Once again, with the hope that this suggestion does not hurt the feelings of the powers that be, I would like to reiterate that no accusation is being made that the markers of the CLP is indeed dishonourable. I’m only suggesting that any marker can make an honest mistake.

3. My final suggestion is that the CLP examination is made compulsory to all law students including those from the public universities. I think that it is unfair to judge the quality of law students when they are not being made to sit the same examinations. The students in public universities are ideally sitting an internal examination whereas those in the CLP course undertake a much more difficult external professional examination. In no way am I suggesting that the students in the public university are inferior to those who were lucky enough to read law overseas and vice-versa. All I’m saying is that with a common examination, the public has a chance to make a choice for themselves who they are going to place their confidence on. Legal practice is a costly business these days and it is only fair that the people who fork out a large amount of money on legal consultation should get the opportunity to evaluate for themselves the quality of legal advice they are getting. This can’t be done today as our law students undertake different examinations of different scope and environment. A uniformed examination will serve to bring this dream a lot closer!

Only when we can cast our sensitivities aside and think with a calm head on our shoulders that correct decisions are usually made. Will we make the correct decision anytime soon? I can only pray that for the sake of the nation, we will make the right decision sooner rather than later.