Overdevelopment of Malay reserve land will continue to marginalise the Malays when they are seen to be still behind economically.     

 

History expert professor Zainal Kling ( left ) said the government should not be seen as being too enthusiastic to develop Malay reserve land, until eventually the Malays themselves are marginalised.       

 

"It is much better to develop the land when the Malays are truly capable and prepared rather than developing it and opening the opportunities to those who are not qualified to own the land.     

 

"More disappointingly, many state governments are so concerned about developing the land in question that they forget to replace it," he told Bernama when commenting on media reports that only only 12 percent of Malay reserve land remain in peninsula Malaysia.    

 

As such, Zainal said the law and the Malay reserve land system must be reviewed to ensure the Malay reserve land is protected to safeguard the rights and interests of the Malays.    

 

Sharing the same view is prof Kamaruddin M Said, the head of the historical heritage and socio-culture cluster of the National Professors' Council, who said state governments must be held responsible over the deterioration in size of the Malay reserve land because it is clearly under their jurisdiction.    

 

National historian Prof Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim said attention should be given to the definition of 'Malay' to ensure the land is sold to those who truly qualify.    

 

He clarified that the federal constitution stipulates that the definition of Malay is that he must be a Muslim, speaks Bahasa Melayu and practices the culture and tradition of the Malays.    

 

Universiti Utara Malaysia College of Law, Government and International Studies associate professor Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani said any government which abuses the sale of Malay reserve land can be charged under the law because it contravenes the federal constitution.    

 

"Article 89 (3) of the federal constitution mentions that Malay reserve land which is cancelled and have its ownership changed must be replaced with land which is similar in character and of the same size as the area cancelled," he said.    

 

Bernama also solicited numerous reactions from selected state governments on the status of land for Malays.   

 

In Seremban, Negri Sembilan Lands and Mines director Mohd Bahrudin Mahfuz said Malay reserve land in Negri Sembilan is still preserved and encompasses 47 percent of the land in the state.    

 

He said among the factors contributing to the increase in the Malay reserve land were applications by the owners of the land to change the status of their land to Malay reserve land to enjoy a fifty percent reduction in land tax.    

 

In Penang, director of the Department of Lands and Mines, Kamarul Haizal Koderat, said Penang does not have Malay reserve land but it had federal reserve land which can be used by certain departments under the federal government.    

 

In Malacca, Chief Minister Idris Harun said the state does not have Malay reserve land but has Malacca Customary Lands (MCL) under the National Land Code Act (Ownership Penang and Malacca) (Act 518) 1963 which went into force on Jan 1, 1966.    

 

Idris said until last year, Malacca had 130,618 hectares of MCL land, up from 31,459.07 hectares in 2000, of the total 165,627 hectares land area in the state.    

 

In Shah Alam, the size of the Malay reserve land in Selangor has risen two-folds from 51,083.50 hectares in 2009 to 170,533 hectares this year, according to the press secretariat of the Selangor Menteri Besar's Office.    

 

- Bernama