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PETALING JAYA: The notion of a social contract has been used by some to over-ride the provisions of the Federal Constitution, says Sabah activist and political commentator Johan Ariffin Samad, a member of the G25 group of prominent former civil servants.
Johan said the “social contract” concept had been politically weaponised to compel non-Malays, especially East Malaysians, to honour it although the so-called contract had nothing to do with the Borneo states.
“It was a quid pro quo unwritten agreement between the leaders of the three major communities at that time in the Federation of Malaya. When Malaysia was formed, it had nothing to do with a social contract,” he told FMT after the launch of his book “Revisiting The Social Contract” here earlier today. Also present were former attorney-general Tommy Thomas and Tawfik Ismail, a former MP from Umno.
Johan, who is commonly known as Joe Samad, said Sabah and Sarawak are equal partners in forming Malaysia and helped to form the federation without the baggage of the social contract.
“The social contract has been extended to the Borneo states unknowingly by default and as a researcher and writer, I hope to make many people in the Borneo states aware that rogue peninsula politicians are using the social contract to subjugate the Borneo states,” he said.
Some in the legal fraternity have since claimed that parts of the unwritten social contract may have found its way into the Federal Constitution, he said, while some groups would cite the social contract to maintain their supremacist tendencies and actions.
These moves left the natives of Sabah and Sarawak clearly disadvantaged, as East Malaysians do not benefit from the New Economic Policy and other various national plans. “We are now in the 12th Malaysia Plan, but Sabah and Sarawak have the highest poverty rate since Malaysia was formed,” he said.
Johan said: “The new social contract should be the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which the government has yet to fulfil.”
Earlier this evening, Thomas said the much-quoted idea of “social contract” has departed from its original meaning, rendering it meaningless. Thomas said the term “social contract” should be understood within the social conditions surrounding Malaya’s road to independence, which have changed significantly since Merdeka.
“The Social Contract” was originally the title of a book by 18th century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It was revived in the 1980s by Umno politician Abdullah Ahmad who was also the first to publicly discuss the Ketuanan Melayu ideology.