Our police are also known as our men in blue. I am not really sure why we switched to blue because they once wore khaki brown cloth during the early days of Merdeka.

They are now also a Royal Police Force, which means the police work and serve the public interest and never just the government’s interests.

They, however, need wisdom and knowledge to apply the rule of law to differentiate between political partisanship in choices versus assertions made on a professional basis and premised upon the public interest as our Rule of Law. The Federal Constitution is after all the supreme law of our land.

They are equally sworn to protect and preserve this “true blue” public interest especially with the aid and support of all other criminal and civil laws by which federal laws cover all geographical jurisdictions in Malaysia.

The police were never designed to be mere actors or executors of state enacted laws; and, especially in the nine Malay states with Sultans, and their state-enacted syariah laws.

Are religious laws therefore federal?

Religious or sectarian syariah laws or such other religious rules, or teachings, or doctrines are not within the purview and operations of enforcement for civil jurisprudence! What do I mean?

When some local narrow-minded local Malay Muslims wanted a Church community to bring down a cross symbol from their church building, it was entirely out of the jurisdiction of the police! Faith is not a matter for police; or our men in blue.

Public services are not constructed or designed to make religious rules as their public code of conduct. Therefore, even when Anwar Ibrahim was minister of finance and allowed or propagated the call to prayer within the Ministry of Finance complex of buildings, my minister Rafidah Aziz did not permit or allow it within MITI building then.

These issues are black and white for those of us who know the issues about the rights and wrongs of them; in public social space. That is another simple but very clear and reason why I will object to civil legislation by way of backdoor of federal laws against any such religious violations; including Abdul Hadi Awang’s hudud bill (PUU 355) as currently being politically tabled for discussion in Parliament, to coincide with the 14^th general election.

To me, it explicitly violates Federal Constitutional rights and obligations of all citizens; inadvertently. And here, I believe and speak for many rational Malays too.

Religion is not or never was designed to be a federal matter and it must never be allowed to become one; unless we amend the Federal Constitution and remove ‘the primus inter pares’ of the supremacy of our Federal Constitution; as the only basis of all our civil, criminal, and religious laws.

Even if Article 121 (1A), as currently interpreted, clarifies the administration and jurisdiction (and interpretation) of syariah laws; there really is no basis in law to allow a Federal Islamic Religion Department, which must always remain subsidiary to all such state enactments. It becomes federal jurisdiction only or criminal matters which apply to all citizens under federal criminal law, and by a Federal police force.

The net result of PUU 355 is much confusion or lack of clarity between the separation of Federal Laws and State Enactments. To me, this results in the changing of the only premise for criminal jurisprudence by the Malaysian Royal Police.

No wonder then, the former Inspector General of the Royal Police Force of Malaysia (the holder and not the institution) chose to publicly ignore an explicit court order more than once.

Any honest but truthful competent public servant or IGP would have had zero cultural or faith-based struggles for a transparent and open execution of administrative and criminal law in Malaysia. – December 25, 2017.

* KJ John worked in public service for 32 years, retired, and started a civil group for which he is chairman of the board. He writes to inform and educate, arguing for integration with integrity in Malaysia. He believes such a transformation has to start with the mind before it sinks into the heart!

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.