POLITICAL INSIGHTS
- politicalscienceiium
- Mar 24, 2020
- 24 min read
Updated: Jan 5, 2021
POLITICAL INSIGHTS SEASON 1
POLITICAL INSIGHTS SEASON 2
EPISODE 1: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDG)
If the term “peace and security” has become a buzzword after the First World War, today the buzzword has shifted to a “Sustainable Development Goals” or better known as the SDGs, which is now evolving as a key issue and has become part of the world's leaders speech and global goals on the international arena. We are here to understand what exactly does the SDG entail and the reasons behind its significance in this modern-day. The United Nation Development Program described SDGs as a Global Goals and supported by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call-to-action to end poverty, protect the planet and to ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
As we claim to be living in modern civilization, some problems such as the unequal distribution of wealth, the income gap between the social classes and people living below the poverty line as well as unfulfilled basic human rights, remained as major concerns which are worrying. In some parts of the world, people are not being recognized and their words are voiceless. Being marginalized by the majority, some recalcitrant association with the corrupted authorities has created a volatile scene in their homeland, which could lead to a variety of unfortunate events in the future. Food shortages, inadequate medication, poverty, malnutrition and high levels of fatality are the common struggles faced by most of the population.
In this divergent world, opportunity and chances only provide to whom they seem to deserve, and the education and health care are only available to those who are rich while neglecting those who are poor. These patterns have become the norms in society, thus leading social faction and division within the community. Members of the society have been possessed by this ill value and ideas which make them compete with each other to obtain opportunity and chances when in fact, it should belong to everyone. Besides that, environmental catastrophes are reaching every corner of the world and it will not come to a stop in the near future. However, since climate change issues have covered many pages of news and media, people are taking their protest to the street to show support in protecting the earth from any destructive production and consumption that could hurt it.
Such daunting situations and experiences have created a strain for the world’s leaders which consequently calls them to constitute this historic moment by initiating leaders from 193 countries of the world to face the future together during 2015. These collective efforts from all countries are embarking on a new future without compromising the planet. These countries are determined to undergo this ambitious transition together with creating a new world order where human rights, peace, freedom, and sustainability can be achieved. The concern that people have today will be shared with the global communities to make it possible for the future generation to live in a world where no one is left behind. The world is now committed and dedicated to this great responsibility for change and transition to solve the problem of humanity by setting up 17 sustainability targets to be accomplished and implemented in 10 years starting from today.
Goal for brighter future
1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequality
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships to achieve the Goal
These 17 Sustainable Development Goals are prepared to undertake and manifest their values and agenda. The countries have to bring these goals list together in achieving each national interest. Leaders must be active players in the implementation component as well as in promoting and inspiring society to achieve this goal and improve the quality of life. Today, we see a lot of corporations and governments, both private and public, community and entity, working hand-in-hand to achieve these goals. These actions mean that society is finally ready for transition and improvement towards the betterment of the present and the future.
IIUM, as a leading institution, is also working together on the same path to complete this mission but instead, with 18 goals to be met. Since IIUM is always committed to upholding Islamic principles and teaching, our respected IIUM Rector, Tan Sri Prof. Emeritus Dato ' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak attached another critical aspect to the goals of Maqasid Al-Shariah and renamed it “Maqasid Al-Shariah-Sustainable Development Goals'' (MAS-SDG). The integration of these 5 Maqasid Al-Shariah, together with 17 Sustainable Development Goals will bring a huge impact on the future with the mixed spiritual element coming together in realizing these goals. Maqasid Al-Shariah reflects Islam as a comprehensive and holistic religion since it suggests protecting and taking care of what within ourselves as well as our surroundings. Therefore, this goal should be upheld by the Muslim community so that prosperity and harmony can be accomplished.
Resources:
(1) sustainabledevelopment.un.org
(2) Norashikin Azizan (2019, july 24). IIUM Rector on assimilating MAS-SDG as
the university’s mission. Retrieved from https://news.iium.edu.my/?p=130882.
EPISODE 2: FOREIGN POLICY
Ever heard of ‘Dr Mahathir is the figure for foreign policy’ or earlier this year event, Malaysia and Pakistan united arms in a negotiated extradition deal to strengthen protection against transnational terrorism in both nations. Defining foreign policy may vary based on the experience and context of each person, but in simple terms foreign policy can be explained as the aims that state governments want to pursue internationally, the principles that give rise to those goals, and the methods or instruments used to follow them. The interaction by two governments with a view to persuading each national interest has culminated in the formulation of foreign policy, and decision taking will also be different for each country according to the needs and interest be it social, economic or military purposes.
After two destructive wars and Treaty of Westphalia added with the establishment of the United Nations and the period of decolonization, as many of the states acquired independents and emergence of nation states was the major factor in promoting diplomatic relationship between the states. This culminated in the creation of 'foreign policies' with the goal of assessing and defining actions, policies and goals for the relationship of a state with another.It also draws boundaries to keep allies close and enemies isolated by expanding or reducing relationships with each. There are many topics covered by a foreign policy such as immigration policies, international trade, war and military conflicts, international organizations and international law, among other subjects.
The advent of globalization in the nineteenth century has contributed to a shift in the world, including the expansion of inter-state or inter-governmental relations. The needs of foreign policy are necessary to reassure the national interest as the world gets smaller and closer to each other. Interesting points proposed by Feliks Gross concluded that international policy still works not only when states have diplomatic ties with others, but also when states agree to separate themselves or not to participate in negotiations with any other states. A state without foreign policy has been likened to a deep-sea ship with no understanding of directions. Therefore, foreign policy guides the state to meet its national interests and to achieve a proper position in the community of nations.
Malaysia, as a developing country, aims to use foreign policy as an important instrument to create friendly relations with other states and to join a multilateral union or organisation at international level in order to pursue national interest and gain the utmost interest for the country. Before Malaysia achieved independence in 1957, Malaysia did not have an official alliance with other nations as it had no right in the international sphere.Since independence, Malaysia has a broader challenge of raising the image of the country's external identity, and this means presenting an autonomous and consistent foreign policy to the newly independent state.Malaysia's domestic and foreign policy since independence has expressed consistency and the same values of cooperation in terms of cultural, political and security policies in both the domestic and international spheres.
Throughout the history, Malaysia has made a lot of foreign policy through diplomatic relations and embracing multilateralism in tabling the national interest at international level. In the era of YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj may be described as a strengthening era in Malaysia's development, in which the Prime Minister tried to consolidate the country's position in the region through economic and political agreements in South East Asia. In the time of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, foreign policy was directed at stability and friendly relations. He pursued a strategy of neutralization that was achieved by the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) in order to avoid the interference of major powers in the region. Furthermore, Malaysia also engaged with ASEAN Treaty of Amity (1976), the key purpose of which was to avoid national peace and stability tensions resulting from friendly agreements or public offices, consultation, investigation or coalition agreements.
Multilateralism is typically the grand agenda that Malaysia has adopted since independence. Multilateralism has pushed Malaysia to engage in a variety of international organisations, including Asian regional bodies. Malaysia has embraced the concept of non-alignment since 1970 by adopting a stance of neutrality. During the tenure of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the principle of non-alignment became stronger. Malaysia was a founding member of ASEAN in 1967, the foundation of Malaysia's foreign policy goals and approaches. Malaysia's national and foreign policy has been one of harmony and peaceful coexistence, rather than a threat and rivalry in both domestic and foreign relations. Malaysia is making great strides in its foreign participation by greater trade liberalization, political and economic collaboration in the Asia-Pacific region and in countries around the globe.
EPISODE 3: TRUMP IMPEACHMENT’S SNIPPET WE NEED TO KNOW
As the third president of the United States to be held in a trial upon impeachment inquiry, Donald Trump’s case has been the world’s center of attention since last year December 18 and up until today despite the charges against him has been proved to be wrong in which the whole prosecution process has ended on February 5th this very year, amid the early stage of the outbreak of COVID-19.
But before we start the ball rolling, let me walk you a bit through the rundown of impeachment for this Republican Party member, by firstly grasping the meaning of impeachment in case some of the readers; which includes me as well, do not quite understand the meaning of it before this. To put the significance of the noun in simple words, impeachment is the act of announcing a formal statement that allows senior figures in government to hold other public officials such as judges, the president or cabinet members to account in case they might be guilty of a serious offence in connection with his or her job. After a person is impeached, then only the trial will take place at the upper house of the U.S Congress which is the Senate and not in the courts since it is not a criminal trial, but a political one.
For those who wonder what might have been the grounds for Trump to be impeached, it all started by a report from an anonymous whistle-blower known to be a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official, who wrote letter which demands scrutiny to be run over Trump’s phone conversation with Ukraine's new president Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25th 2019 , with allegations that the U.S President used his office at the White House to "solicit interference from a foreign country" solely for his own political gain, mainly the upcoming 2020 election of the state. The phone call that was made by Trump to congratulate Volodymyr Zelensky on his election victory was supposed to be normal but the fact that it came shortly after Trump had blocked the release of millions dollars of military aid to Ukraine was somewhat suspicious. It was later revealed in a rough transcript of the call that Trump did urged the Ukraine’s president to publicly denote an investigation into the Democratic Party leader, Joe Biden which is his front runner for this year’ election. Taking account of the whistle-blower’s claim upon Trump, the U.S House of Representatives impeached him on two charges - abuse of power which has been summarized in this very paragraph and obstruction of the Congress; to be discussed in the next passage.
To start off, Congress is the part of the U.S government that writes as well as brings in laws and the one investigating Trump during his impeachment trials. Now, the reason behind Trump’s charge of obstructing the Congress which was made the member of Democrat, was due to action taken the White House whom declined its staff to testify at the first impeachment hearings in 2019. However, this second charge was also debunked since Trump denied any wrongdoing and his legal team say the "flimsy" charges are a "dangerous perversion of the Constitution".
It is worth to take note that during his trials of impeachment, Trump is not yet removed from the White House office since a two-thirds majority of 67 votes in the 100-seat Senate is needed to convict and oust him. However, in the unlikely event of Trump being found guilty in which we can all see that he was not, he would be removed from office and Vice-President Mike Pence would be sworn in as president. But since his party or Republicans have a majority of 53 to 47 in the Senate, it is only an expected result that the president to be cleared from both of his impeachment charges.
With the final outcome allowed Trump to continue his duty as the President of the United States since he has been cleared by senators after his impeachment trial, hischance to get re-elected is believed to be long shot from one side yet promising from another side. According to NBC News, the presidential polls in the U.S stipulated that Joe Biden is currently leading as a generic alternative to Trump but the truth is, we can never guess political disposition simply based on the facts themselves. Thus, it is only right to just wait and see for the voters’ results for the United States 2020 upcoming election.
EPISODE 4 : BREXIT
British exit or also regarded as Brexit is the removal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The UK Government officially declared that the nation would be withdrawn in March 2017 following a UK-wide referendum in June 2016 in which 52% voted to leave and 48% voted to stay in the European Union, marking the start of the Brexit process. The withdrawal has been postponed by impasse in the British parliament and has been resumed following the general elections.On 31 January 2020, following the approval by the Parliament of the withdrawal agreement, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union. The transition period started and ended on 31 December 2020 when the United Kingdom and the European Union will discuss their future relations, migration, customs and much more. At least until now, the United Kingdom will remain subject to European Union law and will continue to be part of both the European Union customs union and the single market, but will no longer be part of the political institutions or bodies of the European Union.
A decade ago, the Euroskeptics and the political left in the 1970s and 1980s suggested the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The Eurosceptic right wing led a revolt over the ratification of the treaty and persuaded the right wing Prime Minister David Cameron, along with the United Kingdom Independence Party and the People's Pledge movement, to hold a referendum in June 2016 on continuing membership of the European Union. Prime Minister Cameron, who was campaigning for resignation following the outcome and was succeeded by Theresa May. The UK government officially began the withdrawal process on 29 March 2017, invoking with parliamentary approval Article 50 of the Treaty on European Integration. Theresa May then called for a general election in June of 2017, which led to Conservative minority government and the start of negotiations for the removal of the United Kingdom from European Union.The British parliament voted in March, 2019, for Theresa May, to ask the European Union to postpone Brexit until April and then later on in October, following several refusals to ratify the terms of the withdrawal by the parliament.
In July Theresa May resigned as Prime Minister and was replaced by Boris Johnson after her agreement had never been accepted. He sought to remove parts of the Agreement and set a new deadline for exiting the European Union. The United Kingdom Government and the European Union agreed on a revised withdrawal of the agreement on 17th October 2019 and approved it for further scrutiny by the Parliament but rejected the adoption of it before the deadline for 31st October and the government again requested the third postponement of Brexit. At the general election on 12 December, the Conservatives gained a wide majority with Boris Johnson declaring that the United Kingdom would exit the European Union in early 2020. The withdrawal agreement was signed on 23 January by the United Kingdom and on 31 January 2020 by the European Union.
With the United Kingdom official declaration withdrawing from the European Union, some people suggest it is the beginning of a Brexit and that there is plenty of criticism and speculation regarding the next developments that are highly contingent on the willingness of the head of the government to negotiate. There is a lot to be discussed from this two region's most contentious trade to regulation, data sharing, protection, travel access, and many more.
EPISODE 5: KL SUMMIT
Established by the former Malaysia Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2014, Kuala Lumpur Summit or currently known as the Perdana Dialouge is an annual event in Kuala Lumpur that gathers Muslim leaders, scholars and intellectuals across the globe in a session of conversing thoughts and exchanging ideas concerning the world’s Muslim community issues as a whole for the greater good.
As of now, a total of 5 edition of this reputable summit have been successfully conducted with last year’s guests coming from at least 250 foreign representatives from 52 countries and 150 Malaysian delegates that includes not only government officials but also leaders from non-government sectors as well.
For the 2019 Kuala Lumpur Summit which have been held from 18 to 21 December at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the main focus on the mega event addressed the five major concerns of the Muslim society that was and unfortunately, still happening in this world up until today. The five issues; Rohingya refugee crisis, Uyghur mass detentions in China, war in Yemen, gender inequality and not least of all, economic disparity, were debated among the participants under the theme of “The Role of Development In Achieving National Sovereignty”. In addition to the effort of solving affairs revolving Islamic countries, five memorandums of understanding or MoUs have been sealed to encapsulate the event between the five pioneers countries of KL Summit namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan. The agreements made by the said nations cover the aspects of food security, youth exchange, media collaboration as well as defense and security with one of them being a proposal to set up a communication centre between the Malaysian and Turkish governments’ media organizations, to accommodate the concerns of Islamophobia across the world.
Even though one of the objectives of this summit is to form a network between Islamic leaders, intellectuals, scholars and thinkers around the world, somehow the agenda of setting up this round-table discussion have been misinterpreted by few entities and individuals. Example would be Saudi Arabia who believed that Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should be the only international platform to address challenges facing the Islamic world. However, Dr Mahathir in his speech during the last KL Summit has said that this event is not in any way, trying to replace any other Muslim platforms or intending to create different categories or classes of Muslims nor to undermine others but instead, to establish collaborations that will first benefit the nations involved and then taken onto a bigger platform to benefit the Muslim community.
Taking his remarks into account, it is worth to note that KL Summit does not only welcome ideas from high positioned leaders but also provided opportunities for young people to contribute to the growth of the ummah and Islamic nations. In order to signify the vital role of younger generations in the Muslim world, Youth KL Summit; a prelude and the first programme to the main summit was held to convey ideas in the development of Muslim nations. It is one of the most-awaited occasion among the participants since the resolutions of this summit will be presented to leaders of the KL Summit later.
Few of many captivating resolutions agreed upon pertaining youths involvement in Muslim countries development during last year’s Youth KL Summit would be the idea of establishing a youth empowerment monitoring body to track the progress and delivery of youth-related initiatives, issues as well as indicators of participating countries. Other than that, participants have also concurred to proposed to the leaders a formation called as ‘Youth Powerhouse’ which aimed to focus on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) training and education along with providing jobs through the connection with companies in the Muslim countries.
All in all, KL Summit is undoubtedly the futuristic emblem of an Islamic body that represents the Muslims all over the world with a clear vision; an international platform for dialogue, bringing together Muslim leaders, thinkers, intellectuals and scholars finding the best dynamic and action driven solutions for the problems faced by Muslim Ummah guided by a comprehensive contemporary understanding towards the achievement of the highest values of Islam and the sovereignty of Ummah.
POLITICAL INSIGHTS SPECIAL EPISODE
EPISODE 1: POLITICAL DRAMAS TO WATCH DURING MCO
The world is currently facing a deadly pandemic and is going through a tough time looking for a vaccine, as a decent human being, we should play our part in fighting this pandemic by staying at home and taking care of ourselves. POSSA takes an additional phase in making your boring long holiday into something fun by providing you with a list of recommended movies relevant to politics. Our very own political science student, Muadz bin Abd Rashid, is kind enough to share his favorite show with us since this show aims to convey the true sense of politics and how the idea of 'real politics' has been implemented, Mu'adz said.
The first series is Designated Survivor: 60 Days. Directed by Yoo Jung Sun, Ji Jin Hee was called Park Moo Jin, Minister of the Environment, who was later appointed Acting President of South Korea. Designated Survivors:60 Days is simply a remake of the Designated Survivor American series, which has three seasons. What's unique about Designated Survivor: 60 Days is that the plots are solid and nuanced about which Mu'adz actually feels Designated Survivor: 60 Days is stronger than the first one. He is impressed how the producer managed to bundle the three seasons into one season of Designated Survivor: 60 days very well. The next series is House of Cards directed by Beau Willimon, starring Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood and Robin Wright as Claire Underwood. House of Cards showed us how Frank Underwood, who is an powerful lawmaker in the US, was expected to be Secretary of State by Gareth Walker, President of the United States. Yet, then, the vow was shattered. Mu'adz portrayed this series as attempting to show us the chaos and brutality in the realm of politics in which this society is not conducive to the poor. Frank Underwood, as a political man, does everything for money, including being involved in assassination trials, covering up his own father and others. But, he still had a positive side.
The final series is Mu'adz picked out of the three, which is Game of Thrones. Credit given to the three central actors, George R.R. Martin, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss has consistently created a show that is stunning to the world. Game of Throne has been running for 8 seasons, from 2011 to 2019. The history of Game of Throne that we can see is based on the middle ages different from the previous two series. The plot starts after King Robert Baratheon takes the throne following the downfall of three major houses by the former Monarch, the Insane Monarch, from the house of Targaryen, the actual owner of the throne. There are three separate developments in the pursuit of a shared target. All these nuances, the roles are always evolving and unpredictable. In addition, this show does not have any central villain or narrator, so when we believe that this one villain is the main character, the character died in the middle of the season. It is one of the specialty Game of Throne in which the directors are not afraid to kill our favorite characters. For Mu'adz, he felt more free and less tied to any single character. The charming point of this series is that there's a lot of plot twists in every season, and even in every episode there's something that's hooked us to see the next episodes.
EPISODE 2: THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF ADOLF HITLER SUMMARY
All of us were born as blank canvasses, and that applies to Adolf Hitler as well; the most prominent dictator whose name still remembered by many up until this day.
If we traced the world's history to 101 years back during the Treaty of Versailles agreement to ended the war between the Germany and the Allied Powers, it was exactly when Hitler began to build up his long-known hatred for the Jews, since many of Germans at that time were greatly influenced by the 'stab-in-the-back' legend myth- instilling the ideas to Germans that it was because of the betrayal at home front that made Germany lose the war.
Eventhough the said myth was proven to be wrong by in-depth investigation by the government, Hitler who was serving as army during the War but later became unemployed due to the Treaty's condition to end the war only if Germany reduced the number of its army members, continue to spread his hatred for the Jews as he became one of the top leaders in the German Workers Party. His orarity stength and the increasing support from civilians as well as his fellow unemployed army, gave him the confidence to run for the Germany presidential election shortly after he released the best-seller book written during his 9-months imprisonment but was lost to Paul Von Hinderburg. Shortly afterwards, due to Hitler's never-ending effort to win the President over, he succeeded in making himself as the Chancellor of Germany and that was exactly the moment of his dictatorship reign started. The decree that was initially signed by the Germany high-ups as a desperate measurement action due to the Parliament's burned down incident, was then made as a method of revenge to the Jews, the Communist as well as the government opponent parties by setting up a concentration camps for them and anyone who went against his ideology during that time. From that point on, Germany which used to be a harmony democratic state changed to a fully dictatorship country runs by the one and only Adolf Hitler- the boy who almost became an artist once upon a time.
EPISODE 3 : HOW TO CONSTRUCT A GOVERNMENT IN MALAYSIA
Malaysia, a federation of 13 states practices democratic constitutional monarchy in which the government is lead by the Prime Minister while Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) acts as the head of the country. Similarly with English legal system in United Kingdom, the separation of power in Malaysia were divided into three branches; legislative, executive and judiciary. Referring to the democracy part in Malaysia's political system, there are 4 vital features in order for a country to be able to verified as a democratic one. The 4 elements include first and foremost, the election with active participation from the public as well as ammendment of laws that protect human rights at all cost and applicable to all. As for the King or YDPA, the Majesty's role covers all of the three branches of the government and also serves the people as the head of Islam in his own state and the three Federal Territories states as well as the four states ruled by the Governors. It is not uncommon for many of us to fully understand the roles of YDPA to the Muslims since they are seems to be quite invisible to the non-Muslims given that Malaysia is a multiracial country. But in light of recent Malaysia's political crisis, a lot of us are starting to realize the core tasks of the King. Since His Majesty has the right to appoint as well as to dissolve the parliament in accordance to Federal Constitution's Article 40 (2)(a) and Article 43 (2)(a), together with the resignation of Tun Mahathir as the previous head of government, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has been appointed to be the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia after considering the majority supports received from Dewan Rakyat Members. This political turmoil might seems to be far from over in addition with the rise of COVID-19 pandemic, but as a responsible citizen, it is our job to pray for the best and do our part to maintain harmony in our beloved country, Malaysia.
POLITICAL INSIGHTS SEASON 3
Episode 1: Proclamation of Emergency
The rapid re-emergence of COVID-19 cases and clusters in Malaysia called on the government to consider declaring an emergency for more efficient steps to control the pandemic. After the announcement, the social media was flooded with feedback, concern and even criticism of the government's decision to declare an emergency. This time around, rather than a 'sembang kedai kopi' talk, Malaysians have tried to understand and furiously debate the constitutions and the emergency clauses that have shown Malaysia to be a progressive nation. Putting aside the political ideologies and interest, cited from the Supreme Laws of the nation, the federal constitution unfolds what is an emergency, the reasons to deem declaring an emergency, and how the declaration of an emergency affects the citizens.
Pursuant to Article 150 of the Federal Constitution, a Declaration of Emergency can be issued with the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong that there is a severe emergency in which security, economic life, public order in the Federation or any part of it is threatened. In the Constitution, only emergency words are used to denote the nation under the state of emergency. Therefore, there’s no such term as 'political-emergency' or 'health-emergency.' Emergency should instead be declared when the nation is threatened by security, economic life and public order. Note, even if we are safe and secured, but the government of the day thinks that the country is under threat, there is justification for calling for an emergency through the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
When a country is in a state of emergency and is under extraordinary circumstances, ordinary law is not efficient. There is a great need for extreme power and exceptional legislation to resolve the situation. Second, executive bodies can amend the law during the state of emergency. Ordinances can be rendered in a state of emergency by Yang di-Petuan Agong, if it is necessary to deal with those circumstances without being presented to the Parliament. This ordinance may, to a certain extent, take away the rights and freedom of the people. Second, since Malaysia uses a federal system where the federal and state have their own lists and powers, the federal government may take over and intervene with the state administration during the emergency.
In the recent case, Yang-di Pertuan Agong refused a proposal by the Prime Minister to declare a state of emergency in knock down the virus. Instead, more drastic and efficient measures and enforcement should be implemented to curb the spread of the Covid-19. The conclusion drawn by Yang-di Petuan Agong was the result of the consultation of the Conference of Rulers and also the advice of the senior civil servants of the expert in the matter. The decision should not be appealed or challenged by any court on any basis based on Article 150 of clause (8A), show the authority of Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
How does the state of emergency affect people? This issue is highly dependent on the wisdom of Yang di Pertuan Agong and the government in the exercise of its powers. These powers are available to the authorities to make choices, the authorities can decide whether to use them or not, depending on the situation. For example, the Declaration of Emergency after the 1969 racial riot was lifted in 2011, yet people were living normally since it only tackles the part and problems of the cause. Thus, an emergency can either turn a nation into a unitary system where everyone is under the strict supervision of the authority or just another indifferent day.
Written by,
Syazwani Mohd Nasir
Episode 2: Unveiling Campus Politics
Apart from the sights of students going to and back from classes, them flooding the cafes during lunch hours and the long queue to print their assignments at the printing shop, campus politics exists somewhere in between all those interactions, communications and transactions within the university’s atmosphere. But to what extent does a student can relate the definition of politics to the community around them when it is being accompanied with the word “campus”?
To start the ball rolling, let us first put a name to the meaning of politics and campus politics to better understand the difference between both of the two terms. In general, politics can be understood as an art or science in a government, by the way a state is taking control of all the affairs inside its territory. The other definition of politics would be the way people within a society are struggling to maintain themselves in a stable condition inside their state’s ruling system. However, these interpretations of politics did not sit well for some of us, since unfortunately, politics is not all about pursuing the rights of people - it can also be a medium for immoral leaders to exercise power by patronizing the society under their command. Therefore, in defining campus politics, it is actually up to one’s experience and knowledge about politics but normally, we can describe it as everything that is happening around or within the campus; policies, administration, procedures and many more, which can either be directly or indirectly but not necessary, involved with the influence of national politics from outside the campus environment.
If we want to further observe the definition of campus politics from the Tawhidic paradigm perspective, it is a known fact that equality before the law is one the most basic pillars of the Islamic-based justice system. For this purpose, there are many sayings from Allah in the Qur’an that we can always refer to, with one of it being from Surah Al-Maidah, verse 8 as below.
As a conclusion, from this verse, we can agree that in terms of practicing politics inside the campus, the formula to lead others in the journey of fighting for the rights of students, by the students themselves, need to be done with the element of justice, just as what a national politics should be. Since there are many clubs and societies reside within the community of students, practicing fairness in all of the establishments made with the members are always encouraged; be it for the sole purpose of pursuing the interest of respective clubs or societies or not, as long as the campus politics are adhering to the religion’s regulations.
Written by,
Hafiqah Ali
Episode 3: Students’ Voices Through Students' Leaders
The University is an institution that builds on and by those who stand by the principle of knowledge and strive for it. As a result, a new in-group community was formed that shared the same interest and value. Since the university has established a community, the population within it needs to be regulated and it needs to be built in the same way that the state is managed. To ensure that every layer of society is taken care of, the Student Council and the Student Society arise to cater and help students.
The Student Council is one of the many branches of authority in the university, but has mobilised the most powerful in the field as students take the majority of the population. That is why the student council and society should be very pragmatic and efficient in carrying out the tasks as they hold the majority of the voice in the group. The main pillar for the student society, such as IRKHSSS, is to be a consulting body for the student and to table it to a high-ranking authority.
Student society is one of the joint efforts of students and should be seen as an admirable work, as not everyone is willing to split their time and energy between catering student concerns and try to match their study schedule. In addition, students who have been elected need to run for a role and be as wiser as they can when it comes to decision-making, which should benefit most of the students.
In order to ensure that this body runs smoothly, checks and balances must be used as mechanisms to ensure that this democratic platform is successful and efficient. Co-operatives from the student population, board members and university bureaucracies needed to do this to ensure that nothing is left over. Returning to the central point, the dedication and the united of the community is therefore the main tools to ensure that this body will work as it wishes.
Written by,
Syazwani Mohd Nasir
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