YOURSAY | ‘It is to shield them from the shame that accompanies revelations of official misconduct.’

LIVE: After trading insults, MPs pray for each other

Quigonbond: Knowledge of “fakeness”, ideally, will need to be established beyond reasonable doubt. But there is no safety feature that the judge cannot bypass that process by using judicial notice, such as one used on the Attorney-General’s Chambers pronouncements that Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) is not corrupt.

And who gets to decide? It'll be the Sessions Court judge, who hails from the same service that prosecutors come from, clearly having a conflict of interest issue.

Once that “fakeness” is established, anyone speaking another version of that official story will be liable. Note that not even criminal law has monopoly over what is true or false.

When a person is convicted of an offence, it is because the offence has been proven on a standard beyond reasonable doubt, which is different from saying whether someone did truly commit the offence or not.

Only God knows the absolute truth. To allow any branch of government to dictate what is true will be a travesty against freedom of expression. We are descending into dark ages of authoritarianism.

Simple Malaysian: "Go to hell with you!" says Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman. This is the calibre of ministers we will inherit if BN is voted in. Do we want this?

Is Bahasa Malaysia or English so handicapped that the minister could not use to express his wise opinions in the august House?

Turvy: Simple Malaysian, we have been suffering this calibre of ministers for a long, long time. It is time now to evict them, but they may have made that also impossible.

Imagine a law of this importance without any real supporting data or information. Surely those supporting the bill could do better than mouthing insults and obscenities?

Is there evidence that the circulation of false news is rampant or that it caused harm or other mischief?

And if there is such evidence, is there any enforcement agency that could provide data on the type and extent of the abuse or that these cases are such that they cannot be cured by existing laws?

The opinion of most people is that this law is passed to protect politicians in power, to shield them from the public shame that accompanies revelations of official misconduct.

If this is what they want, I think they are in for a big surprise.

Ambiga has a major political role to play

David Dass: I agree with Malaysiakini columnist Francis Siah. Ambiga Sreenevasan has been an exemplary leader.

She has served the nation well as a lawyer, as president of the Malaysian Bar and as head of Bersih. She has done much pro bono work for human rights issues. She is articulate and courageous.

We should respect her decision not to actively participate in politics. As the writer says, she could be called on to serve in a whole range of activities by the government of the day.

If BN wins the election, they will still have to change. Winning an election by gerrymandering, voter aggregation, postal votes and the use of money is pathetic.

Such a government would not be respected by the people of the country, or by governments outside the country. That is not the place where we should be.

The best of our people should be in public life. Ambiga is one of them.

Anonymous 74651436350999: It has taken a man from the other end of the country to point out what a personality we have in Ambiga - an exemplary women leader recognised by the outside world but not at home. But we, the people, do.

With her experience and background, she would do well as the future attorney-general. For that matter, she would also do an excellent job cleaning up the electoral rolls and boundaries to ensure fair representation of the people. Wait for the change.

Headhunter: I have to agree with Siah on his assessment of the two personalities – Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli and Ambiga. And yes, Ambiga is better off the political arena than in it.

I hope that if a new government is installed, she would be chosen to head the most critical ministries that need to be overhauled from top to bottom, such as the Attorney-General’s Chambers, MACC or the Auditor-General’s Office.

She would certainly excel in reversing the rot that has seeped into the government and putting fear into many people who have been robbing the nation without fear or shame.

Anonymous 621101460964937: Well said, Siah. With all this incredible talent, Malaysia can and will become the force it once was on the regional and global stage.

We need basic first aid for our dying democracy and ailing economy. I wish and hope we will see our beloved nation back on a path of integrity and principles soon, where our children can live and thrive and we can hold our heads up high again!

An overseas M'sian's take on the EC redelineation bill

Anonymous 2413471460628504: Dear Shoban J Raveendran, you are right about the many educated Malaysians who choose not to engage with the nation's affairs. It goes to show that a person's education has nothing to do with their sense of responsibility to the nation, their family or future.

Say what you will, but apathy is a form of selfishness. Many of these persons are too lazy to even expand their energy to think of the issues involved, what more to actually vote.

I think we can all do our bit to explain the issues to our nearest and dearest, and hope that more and more Malaysians awaken to the fact that we all have a stake in the nation's future.

Whichever route Malaysia takes affects us all. You have certainly done what you can, at this juncture, by your letter.

Have A Great Day: Yes, Shoban, it is indeed very sad that by official reports a substantial percentage of our youths have not registered to vote for GE14.

The opposition claims the Election Commission (EC) is intentionally making registration of new voters difficult, as the belief is that the younger set is likely to be more anti-government. But then, these young people are also those campaigning for voters to spoil their vote or not vote.

We will know when the analysis comes in after GE14 if these categories of rakyat who can vote, yet do not do so for whatever reasons, could have made a difference to GE14 results.

Yes, it shall only be an academic exercise then.

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