I refer to the Malaysiakini report Disruption of 'conversion' forum a black mark.

In respect to the recently aborted Bar Council forum on religious conversion, one needs to adopt the perspective and role of institutionalised religion in dealing with the problems of conflict in the application of civil and syariah laws.

In other words, this question cannot be limited simply to the nature and practice of law as an entity in itself, in isolation from the juxtaposition of the other related societal, political, economic and social institutions, and the links between and among them, and therefore it is not simply a question of being legally correct but politically wrong.

Any one who has the slightest knowledge of the sociology of religion should be aware that the Islamic religion in Malaya was institutionalised by the British in the establishment of the ‘Majlis Agama’ as a government-sponsored institution and that this continued after independence.

There is no question that Islam in Malaysia became politicised for reasons that one hardly needs hardly go into here. What is important consequently is to emphasise that the position taken by the Bar Council in saying that the forum was not to challenge the position of Islam, is irrelevant and untenable and consequently must be rejected.

The problem with the conflict of laws in the application of civil and syariah laws arising from Article 12(1A) of the constitution is that it is extremely complicated because of our multi-cultural and multiracial society.

It involves a host of other intervening variables covering traditional value systems in the context of emerging social changes for nation-building, where groups and communities are constantly on the defensive when it comes to changes to the socio-cultural status quo.

It is therefore understandable that people will be sensitive about any such proposed changes.

With the greatest of respect, it might also be well to remind the Bar Council that it should ascertain the extent to which it is qualified to assume the role of an intermediary in an area that is essentially the domain of the social sciences.

It is well known that the scope of the syllabus and curriculum for legal studies is limited to the study of the law as such, and apart from legal jurisprudence, there is no real exposure to crucial studies of human behaviour especially in disciplines such a political science and sociology.

Indeed, I recall positively responding to a proposal of the attorney-general a few years ago, that the exposure to such disciplines in the training of lawyers is essential for legal council even for the normal course of their making representations before learned judges.

Therefore it seems to me that while the council’s efforts to sort out these matters is well and good, it should endeavour to ensure that these matters are considered by eminent persons with multi-disciplinary backgrounds rather than to the council itself.