I refer to the chill in our spine that we all felt upon reading the proposed draconian increase in Official Secrets Act (OSA) powers as intimated by the attorney-general (AG) and as roundly rebutted by Padang Serai MP N Surendran.

In this context it is a bit rich that we are told not to politicise the proposal as everything we do is connected to politics.

Correct me if I am wrong, but does anyone remember anyone being charged in court with divulging secrets that are harmful to the nation in recent times? There wasn’t any, right?

The problem is, as always, our government has confused state secrets with government and party secrets.

State secrets such as army contingency plans, army readiness level, location of planes and artillery and the like are state secrets and those who leak such things should be prosecuted until they don’t get to see the sun again. Our intelligence services capability, their personnel details and location are also secret. So is the kind of weapons we have or where our defences are located.

I doubt it any Malaysian citizen of any race or religion will cast any aspersion if those who divulge these secrets are put away for life. Bravo, we will add.

However, how much the government plane costs, how much is the teh tarik served at the recent open house cost , how much is the golfing trip in the US, marriage courses in Paris and amounts paid to foreign PR agencies are not state secrets, they are merely knowledge that the government would like to keep secret, where rightfully they shouldn’t.

When information is freely available, such as details of contracts awarded to third parties, emoluments of retired politicians who get golden handshakes by being appointed as this ambassador and that government-linked company’s (GLC) chairperson, then there will be less controversy.

When those in government try to merge these two categories and portray them as equally crucial to safeguard national interest, that’s when they lose the plot and the people start being cynical.

Don’t you think it is ironic that we know how much the speaker of the British Parliament spends on official travel expenses, but we do not know how much ours does?

Selangor and Penang which are supposed to be the beacons of the freedom of information philosophy are yet to fully ‘exploit’ this to show that they are different from the other parties controlling other state and federal legislatures. I think it is a wasted opportunity and free election publicity that is not being used by PKR and DAP. What a waste.

If one recalls, at the height of the first Iraq invasion, some British arms manufacturers were accused of violating state prohibitions and were charged in court. In their defence, they cited some agreement or consent of the then-government but the government refused to disclose it under their OSA.

The presiding judge then ordered the government to produce those ‘secrets’ before him and he alone will read it and the judge said he is not covered by the prohibition under OSA. After reading those ‘secrets’, he proceeded to acquit all the defendants without further ado.

My point is, let the judge decide what a state secret is and what puts the national security at risk. This should not be decided by an officer or a minister who may have vested interest in marking any documents to be covered under OSA.

Give the presiding judge that discretion and decision-making power, which rightfully is where it belongs. I am quite sure no judge will rule any secrets not in the ambit of national security if they are indeed so.