DEPUTY Minister Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, who said that atheism should not be allowed in Malaysia, should broaden his reading of the federal constitution, said former Malaysian Bar president Christopher Leong.

In Parliament yesterday, Asyraf said atheism contradicts the first principle of the Rukunegara, which is belief in God.

“We need to understand that in the Malaysian context, our federal constitution states that freedom of religion is not freedom from religion,” he said in a reply to Siti Mariah Mahmud (Amanah-Kota Raja).

At a forum organised by Universiti Malaya’s Law Faculty yesterday, Leong said Asyraf had a misunderstanding of both the Constitution and the Rukunegara, a declaration of national philosophy instituted after the 1969 racial riots.

“The first thing I would like to say is that I respect his right to have that view although I disagree with it,” Leong told students after being queried on the issue.

“I think the error that one may fall into is (not knowing) that the Rukunegara is not prescriptive. The Rukunegara is aspirational.”

“And the reading of the federal constitution should not be in silos. Fundamental liberties in the constitution should be read in an interlocking and mutually supportive manner as opposed to individual in silos.”

Leong referred to Article 10 of the constitution, which among others, states that every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression, with certain restrictions.

“The freedom of speech and expression is not confined to just speaking. It is also the freedom of belief,” he said.

“And if you look at Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights… it expressly links the right to freedom of speech to the right to hold opinions and beliefs, which would encompass a belief that they do not believe in religion.”

Yesterday, Asyraf said it is unconstitutional to spread ideologies that “incite people to leave a religion or profess no religion at all.”

Asyraf said for Muslims, Article 11(1), which allows for freedom of religion, should be read together with Article 11(4) that prohibits the spreading of other religious beliefs and doctrines among Muslims.

Meanwhile, a student asked why, despite being better educated today, the Malaysian public appears to be more easily swayed by arguments for segregation and hate speech as compared to 20 years ago.

“It depends on the education itself,” Leong said.

“The number of small schools has mushroomed and sprouted out all over the place. These schools feed into higher education and tertiary education. A lot of (students) come from small schools, where a lot of them are religious schools.”

“They’ve been fed a constant diet of one-world view. I’m not saying that it is wrong. But I’m saying substantially, it’s a one-world view. So you may find that our society is not as open as you expected.” – November 24, 2017.