YOURSAY 'At least Nancy Shukri is brave enough to admit the error and bring it up for rectification rather than let it go and be forgotten.'

Gov't now wants 'secrecy clause' amended

your say, YoursayMulti Racial: Assuming what de facto law minister Nancy Shukri said was right, it means the government was not thorough in their revision for changes in law and as such major mistakes like this can happen.

Alternatively, Nancy Sukri was telling a lie and this clause was deliberately added. Either way, it is bad for the country.

I want to know why nobody from the BN objected to that. Is it because it helps to "kill" whistleblowers and as such corruption can go on impeded? Or is it none of them bother to read as they do not care so long it does not affect them.

LogicalMalaysian: But the day before, she was adamant in rushing the bill through to get it approved despite the opposition wanting it deferred for further debate and today she is already talking about amendments. What a half-cooked minister she is. Does she really know her job?

Kit P: I would expect a draft law to have been reviewed, discussed, amended if needed by the Attorney-General's Office and the cabinet before submission to Parliament.

It's is a sign of the government's cavalier attitude towards passing laws so much so that the amendments to Section 203A were bulldozed through Parliament with such undue haste.

The unthinking way all BN MPs supported the amendments showed they are uselessness as a check and balance on the executive's legislative agenda.

KB Menon: The statement by Nancy Shukri, "When you rush a bill, you will have missing links", is very telling indeed. Then why the need to rush such a bill without thinking it through thoroughly.

The level of incompetence is shocking and a sad reflection of the calibre of our cabinet ministers and the BN MPs who know only how to say 'Aye' without even knowing fully the law that they are passing.

Nusantara: At least she is brave enough to admit the error and bring it up for rectification rather than let it go and be forgotten.

Wira: Nancy Shukri, I'll believe you if this bill is not gazetted in the form which was passed by a voice vote the day before.

Otherwise, I'll take it as another lie, like the one the father of our present PM told to Malaysians several decades ago about the intended use of ISA on terrorists only.

Mohamad Abdul Malik: What is happening with the government? Presenting bills and then backtracking because of certain controversial clauses seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

Why did they rush the bill? Surely the AG's Chambers who drafted the bills would have thoroughly advised the government of the pros and cons of the bill. Or was our parliamentarians' IQ with the exception of a few was way below average to even understand what was going on?

The flip-flopping on the part of the government should stop once and for all otherwise their credibility will be suspect, if it was not already.

Armageddon: Why don't they just draft a law which says any form of crime, by BN politicians, be it corruption or murder, are legal?

CiViC: If it is true and sincere to implement this for security purposes, then it can and could and would have been done in appointment letters of respective government positions based on the sensitivity of the job, for example, the police.

But the blanket law over such revelation of information is definitely to ensure all government servants do not expose anything detrimental to the government, regardless whether it is morally or legally right/wrong.

Rojak: This is another example of a clumsily sweeping law being rushed through - even though there are already more refined laws in place to cover the ills the proponents of these innovations claim to be targeting - by those panicking that their own incompetence and corruption might be exposed.

Law-making isn't a trivial exercise. Neither should it be overly partisan. Time should be taken and all relevant parties consulted, including opposition legislators and the Bar Council.

Dalvik: Tell me the last time a civil servant had leaked information about a drug raid, compared to information on graft. To be honest, I heard none. All these laws passed lately are making Malaysia a police state.

SS Dhaliwal: If the law was flawed, why the need to rush for passing of the bill through Parliament? Nancy Shukri epitomises the incompetency of the Umno-led government which is not worthy to hold office.

On one hand, she says that if you rush a bill through, it will have missing links and so what about this dubious Section 203A obviously designed to prevent whistleblowers from coming forward?

With this kind of suppressive and draconian laws, no wonder we are going backwards in every way possible.

SpongeBob: Section 203A is not in line with or in the spirit of Islamic teaching. If corruption takes place or any wrongdoing occurs, the Muslims must not condone such behaviour.

"A culture of secrecy is like the bad stench created by cat pee - it is very difficult to get rid of." - Pierre de Vos.

Anthony Chan: I think Nancy Shukri's comments are just another spin job after bulldozing the laws through Parliament. Don't hold your breath for the amendments for it may never come.

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