Of Secrets, Volvos and Public Accountability Democratic Right Under Threat Just when Investigative country have with expensive, big s(Jch as financial mismanage­ journalism has found a cars. It is as if the height of their ment are found in the administra­ positions in government must be little courage to be true to tion. But the manner in which matched with, or glaringly indi­ this case was being handled Its profession, newspaper cated by, the size of their official somewhat belies this assurance. reporters are reminded of cars. These officials, it appears, For instead of swiftly acting on the existence of the OSA are not easily driven by the those who were responsible in and the dire motors of modesty and modera­ the questionable purchase of the consequences that would tion. expensive cars, the Government befall on those who fall In another sense, more impor­ was quick to reprimand the con­ foul of the law. tant and serious, this episode has scientious civil servants (who In this article, MUSTAFA once again brought to the fore the "leaked" the information) and K ANUAR argues for a contentiousness of the Official even threatened to use the OSA Secrets Act (OSA) and, conse­ against them. Freedom of Information quently, the vital question of The Opposition, certain sec­ Act to replace the OSA. public accountability of govern­ tions of the Malaysian press, and ment administration, and of other concerned citizens were democracy in general. equally warned of the dire conse­ he controversial issue of For one thing, the Volvo issue quences of getting and publicis­ 22 Volvo cars being pur­ clearly shows that the OSA real­ ing this sort of information. True, T chased by Tan Sri Elyas ly has too broad and vague a as the law now stands, these Omar's Kuala Lumpur City Hall definition of "Official Secrets" people can be considered as con­ and the subsequent resignation that can only be injurious to travening the OSA if they per­ of the mayor himself is in one citizens' democratic right to in­ sistently look for such sense a sad commentary of the formation. Surely the buying of information, and hence "guilty" curious and seemingly incurable these expensive cars cannot, and of trying to right a wrong. obsession that many high should not, be conveniently Herein, as already implied government officials in the given the stamp of "Official earlier,lies the nub of the matter. Secret" as the taxpaying rakyat For as long as the OSA remains are entitled to know how their in the statute book and in its money is being spent by govern­ present form, the task of making ment departments such as the the Government as a whole more Kuala Lumpur City Hall. accountable to the people be­ Besides, it is hard to visualize comes an arduous one. This argu­ how such a disclosure can ment, to be sure, is not new. For threaten, if at all, national inter­ this point had been raised vehe­ est and security' which the OSA mently by those people who was originally meant to protect. protested against the amendment One can only surmise that the to the OSA in 1986. only interests at stake here are The protesters of the those of the City Hall officials amended OSA felt, and still do, concerned - i.e., they might not that nearly all information about get to keep and flaunt their all Government activities are vibrant Volvos. "protected" from public scrutiny Of course, the Government by the catch-all provisions of the Elyas Omar: Symbol of power Is a had given the assurance that it Act. In addition, they are also sleek Volvo? will take action if wrongdoings disturbed by the fact that no A limit Monthly 1992:12 (8) Page 2 Indeed, such a political cul­ ture is not unique to Malaysia alone. Elsewhere, the United States in particular, scandals such as the Watergate and the Iran-gate affairs couldn't have reached the public domain had it not been for the investigations and inquiries done by journalists, other individuals and non­ governmental groups. In short, it is fair to argue that it is rather naive to assume that govern­ The OSA lalndlned 1o cr.ling • c:unure or rumour~ong.-ing. ments, whether in the US, Britain, Japan, India etc., would safeguard exists against over­ right - is the duty of everyone. take the leading role in revealing zealousness in classifying any Indeed, this is very much in line mismanagements committed in particular information as with the philosophies of the their own administrations. "Secret". major religions in the world. Hence, if we may repeat here, it Not that we don't appreciate Taking Islam as an example, is essential that individuals and the need for strict confidentiality since it has been the groups outside government have of certain information that reaJly Government's commitment to access to important information. relates to the country's interest infuse Islamic values in the ad­ Another implication arising and security. But there certainly ministration, the establishment from the use of the OSA is the is a case for a clear guideline as of all that is right (alma' ru/) and cultivation of an unhealthy cul­ to what kinds of information that the elimination of all that is ture of rumour-mongering and constitute Official Secrets. Also wrong (almunkar) is the sacred wild speculations. Of course, this for the common good of the duty of everyone, including is not to say that without the OSA Malaysian people, there is a need rulers and the ruled. The Holy rumours will be eradicated. But to impose a particular time dura­ Quran recommends that it wiJl certainly reduce the num­ tion or frame upon certain secrets everyone should fight for what is ber of rumour mills and, more to be classified Official Secrets, right (Surah Al-Haji) [2] Verse importantly, will encourage after which any interested in­ 41; Surah Al-Imran [3] Verse people in general to be more dividual can have access to these 10). cautious, prudent and account­ data. It is therefore heartening to able. Looked at in another way, the learn that the Government is con­ Finally, in our desire for bet­ OSA can go a long way towards cerned about mismanagement, ter public accountability and obstructing the noble objective scandals, etc. in the administra­ serious commitment to of creating a caring society. Civil tion. However, past incidents democratic-practices in our servants, journalists and other and cases involving financial society, we would urge that the concerned Malaysians who are scandals in Malaysia did not lend vague OSA be replaced with a not only conscientious but also enough credence to the Freedom of Information Act deeply care for the overall wel­ Government's professed com­ (FOIA). The making of this law fare of the country will not be mitment. (FOIA) would in essence ensure able to effectively assume this One only has to remember that the public gets information responsibility. The OSA, in other cases such as the BMF scandal, about the activities of govern­ words, can encourage the Maminco mystery, and the ment departments and public Malaysians to be lackadaisical, recent Telekom-Maika Holdings authorities. In addition, this right care-free about their own society share issues controversy, to will give the Malaysian public and, worse even, selfish and may name but a few. In most of these access to information held by well send the wrong signal that financial controversies, it usual­ ministers, departments and it's fairly alright to indulge in ly took individuals and/or groups public authorities except such in­ certain misdeeds. outside the Government to spear­ formation that must be kept To expose wrongdoings - and head the revelation of such mis­ secret in the real interest of the subsequently help put things deeds. public.O A.liro1t MoniJa/;,1992:12 (8) P11g6 J EDUCATION Malaysian Educational Reforms: Change For The Better? Recently our educational system has seen many suggestions for reforms, some of which have been Implemented. MOLLY LEE, a lecturer at Unlversltl Salns Malaysia, analyses the rationale behind these reforms and assesses their advantages and d lsadvantages. hen schools started for the new school year W last December, there was a lot of confusion especially among the Form Four pupils for Much needs to be done on the part of the they were not sure which class they were being assigned to by school to effect actual changes In the their schools. This confusion educational experiences of the pupils. arose because for the first time Malaysian schools are doing type of examinations one has to Primary One to Form Three, now away with the Science and Arts pass before one moves up the he/she can go all the way to Form streams at the upper secondary educational ladder; whereas cur­ Five. level. This is just one of the many riculum changes involve the This new policy brought reforms that have been intro­ types of learning experiences. about several changes. Firstly, duced into our educational sys­ such as subjects and co-cur­ the Sijil Rendah Peperiksaan tem since the release of the riculum activities, that are of­ (SRP) examination taken at the Cabinet Committee Report in fered in the schools. We shall end of Form Three is no longer November, 1979. This article is a examine first the structural chan­ selective. In other words, every critical review of some of these ges and then the curriculum child is entitled to be promoted educational reforms - analysing changes. to Form Four no matter what their rationale and innovative his/her SRP results were.