88-414: Radio Free Sarawak ( Malay : Radio Sarawak Bebas ) is a pirate radio station established by environmental and anti-corruption activist Clare Rewcastle Brown and helmed by former Cats FM presenter Peter John Jaban ( Papa Orang Utan ), Christina Suntai who graduated from Florida Technical College in computer science and computer programming, and Michael Ngau. First broadcast on 16 November 2010,
176-644: A descendant of the Proto-Austronesian language , began to break up by at least 2000 BCE, possibly as a result of the southward expansion of Austronesian peoples into Maritime Southeast Asia from the island of Taiwan . The history of the Malay language can be divided into five periods: Old Malay, the Transitional Period, the Classical Malay, Late Modern Malay and Modern Malay. Old Malay is believed to be
264-635: A distributed Denial of service attack. Nonetheless, the station continued their daily one-hour broadcast on shortwave from 1000 UTC - 1100 UTC . Radio Free Sarawak's sister site, Sarawak Report has also been subject to a massive cyber attack although effort is being made to get both the websites back into operation. The founder, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, has commented that the attacks are "a full admission by BN that our insights and investigations have been causing them major difficulties". Malay language Malay ( / m ə ˈ l eɪ / mə- LAY ; Malay: Bahasa Melayu , Jawi : بهاس ملايو )
352-482: A legal principle stating that a person cannot be guilty of a crime if he did not have the intent to commit a crime. A person found guilty of sedition may be sentenced to three years in jail, a RM 5,000 fine, or both. In recent times, the law has been invoked to quell the political opposition. Famously in 2000, Marina Yusoff, a former vice president of the National Justice Party ( Parti Keadilan Nasional )
440-518: A lingua franca derived from Classical Malay as well as Makassar Malay , which appears to be a mixed language . Malay historical linguists agree on the likelihood of the Malayic homeland being in western Borneo . A form known as Proto-Malayic was spoken in Borneo at least by 1000 BCE, it has been argued to be the ancestral language of all subsequent Malayic languages . Its ancestor, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ,
528-554: A medical check up in Parti Keadilan Rakyat 's Miri Branch Chairman Dr.Michael Teo's clinic, when he was accosted by three men from Dr.Michael's car. A press statement released by Jaban's Democratic Action Party lawyer Alan Ling Sie Kiong indicated that prior to that, Jaban was stopped at Immigration upon his entry and was told that he would be questioned by the Malaysian Special Branch . Radio Free Sarawak received
616-555: A mid vowel [e, o] . Orthographic note : both /e/ and /ə/ are written with ⟨e⟩ . Orthographic /e, o/ are relatively rare, so the letter ⟨e⟩ usually represents /ə/ . There are some homographs; for example, perang is used for both /pəraŋ/ "war" and /peraŋ ~ piraŋ/ "blond". (In Indonesia, "blond" may be written perang or pirang .) Some analyses regard /ai, au, oi/ as diphthongs. However, [ai] and [au] can only occur in open syllables, such as cukai ("tax") and pulau ("island"). Words with
704-434: A phonetic diphthong in a closed syllable, such as baik ("good") and laut ("sea"), are actually two syllables. An alternative analysis therefore treats the phonetic diphthongs [ai] , [au] and [oi] as a sequence of a monophthong plus an approximant: /aj/ , /aw/ and /oj/ respectively. There is a rule of vowel harmony : the non-open vowels /i, e, u, o/ in bisyllabic words must agree in height, so hidung ("nose")
792-431: A root word ( affixation ), formation of a compound word (composition), or repetition of words or portions of words ( reduplication ). Nouns and verbs may be basic roots, but frequently they are derived from other words by means of prefixes , suffixes and circumfixes . Malay does not make use of grammatical gender , and there are only a few words that use natural gender; the same word is used for 'he' and 'she' which
880-457: A schoolgirl. In 2003, the act was also invoked by then Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (who succeeded Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister of Malaysia later that year); Abdullah stated that the government would charge people with sedition if they opposed the change in educational policy that puts more emphasis on the teaching of science and mathematics in English . That same year,
968-402: Is dia or for 'his' and 'her' which is dia punya . There is no grammatical plural in Malay either; thus orang may mean either 'person' or 'people'. Verbs are not inflected for person or number, and they are not marked for tense; tense is instead denoted by time adverbs (such as 'yesterday') or by other tense indicators, such as sudah 'already' and belum 'not yet'. On the other hand, there
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#17328758483751056-456: Is a complex system of verb affixes to render nuances of meaning and to denote voice or intentional and accidental moods . Malay does not have a grammatical subject in the sense that English does. In intransitive clauses, the noun comes before the verb. When there is both an agent and an object , these are separated by the verb (OVA or AVO), with the difference encoded in the voice of the verb. OVA, commonly but inaccurately called "passive",
1144-457: Is a law prohibiting discourse deemed as seditious . The act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948 to contain the local communist insurgence. The act criminalises speech with "seditious tendency", including that which would "bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against" the government or engender "feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races". The meaning of "seditious tendency"
1232-430: Is allowed but * hedung is not. Pronunciation Pronunciation Pronunciation Study by Uri Tadmor which was published in 2003 shows that mutation of ⟨a⟩ in final open syllable is an areal feature. Specifically, it is an areal feature of Western Austronesia. Uri Tadmor classify those types into four groups as below. Malay is an agglutinative language , and new words are formed by three methods: attaching affixes onto
1320-532: Is also a crime to possess a seditious publication without a "lawful excuse". The act defines sedition itself as anything which "when applied or used in respect of any act, speech, words, publication or other thing qualifies the act, speech, words, publication or other thing as having a seditious tendency". Under section 3(1), those acts defined as having a seditious tendency are acts with a tendency: (a) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government; (b) to excite
1408-557: Is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , and Singapore . It is also spoken in East Timor and parts of Thailand . Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people (around 260 million in Indonesia alone in its own literary standard named " Indonesian ") across Maritime Southeast Asia . The language is pluricentric and a macrolanguage , i.e., several varieties of it are standardized as
1496-436: Is because individuals can now be charged with sedition for retweeting or reposting content, without being the original publisher of that content. The new section 5A gives the court discretion "to prevent a person who is charged under section 4 who is released on bail from leaving Malaysia." The amended section 10 empowers the court to make a prohibition order to prohibit the making or circulation of any seditious publication if
1584-567: Is defined in section 3 of the Sedition Act 1948 and in substance it is similar to the English common law definition of sedition , with modifications to suit local circumstances. The Malaysian definition includes the questioning of certain portions of the Constitution of Malaysia , namely those pertaining to the Malaysian social contract , such as Article 153 , which deals with special rights for
1672-406: Is designated the bahasa persatuan/pemersatu ("unifying language" or lingua franca ) whereas the term "Malay" ( bahasa Melayu ) is domestically restricted to vernacular varieties of Malay indigenous to areas of Central to Southern Sumatra and West Kalimantan . Classical Malay , also called Court Malay, was the literary standard of the pre-colonial Malacca and Johor Sultanates and so
1760-477: Is divided into Bornean and Sumatran Malay; some of the most widely spoken Sumatran Malay dialects are Riau Malay , Langkat , Palembang Malay and Jambi Malay . Minangkabau , Kerinci and Bengkulu are believed to be Sumatran Malay descendants. Meanwhile, the Jakarta dialect (known as Betawi ) also belongs to the western Malay group. The eastern varieties, classified either as dialects or creoles , are spoken in
1848-623: Is not a tonal language . The consonants of Malaysian and also Indonesian are shown below. Non-native consonants that only occur in borrowed words, principally from Arabic, Dutch and English, are shown in brackets. Orthographic note : The sounds are represented orthographically by their symbols as above, except: Loans from Arabic : Malay originally had four vowels, but in many dialects today, including Standard Malay, it has six, with /i/ split into /i, e/ and /u/ split into /u, o/ . Many words are commonly pronounced variably, with either [i, u] or [e, o] , and relatively few words require
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#17328758483751936-554: Is not readily intelligible with the standard language , and the same is true with some lects on the Malay Peninsula such as Kedah Malay . However, both Brunei and Kedah are quite close. Malay is now written using the Latin script , known as Rumi in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore or Latin in Indonesia, although an Arabic script called Arab Melayu or Jawi also exists. Latin script
2024-642: Is official in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Malay uses Hindu-Arabic numerals . Rumi (Latin) and Jawi are co-official in Brunei only. Names of institutions and organisations have to use Jawi and Rumi (Latin) scripts. Jawi is used fully in schools, especially the religious school, sekolah agama , which is compulsory during the afternoon for Muslim students aged from around 6–7 up to 12–14. Efforts are currently being undertaken to preserve Jawi in Malaysia, and students taking Malay language examinations in Malaysia have
2112-515: Is similar to Kelantanese Malay, but the language has no official status or recognition. Owing to earlier contact with the Philippines , Malay words—such as dalam hati (sympathy), luwalhati (glory), tengah hari (midday), sedap (delicious)—have evolved and been integrated into Tagalog and other Philippine languages . By contrast, Indonesian has successfully become the lingua franca for its disparate islands and ethnic groups, in part because
2200-619: Is the basic and most common word order. The Malay language has many words borrowed from Arabic (in particular religious terms), Sanskrit , Tamil , certain Sinitic languages , Persian (due to historical status of Malay Archipelago as a trading hub), and more recently, Portuguese , Dutch and English (in particular many scientific and technological terms). There is a group of closely related languages spoken by Malays and related peoples across Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , Singapore , Southern Thailand , Kampung Alor in East Timor , and
2288-517: Is the lack of possessive pronouns (and suffixes) in eastern dialects. Manado uses the verb pe and Ambon pu (from Malay punya 'to have') to mark possession. So 'my name' and 'our house" are translated in western Malay as namaku and rumah kita but kita pe nama and torang pe rumah in Manado and beta pu nama , katong pu rumah in Ambon dialect. The pronunciation may vary in western dialects, especially
2376-459: The 1969 general election . Despite their opposition, the ruling Alliance (later Barisan Nasional ) coalition government passed the amendments, having maintained the necessary two-thirds Parliamentary majority. In Britain, the laws were condemned, with The Times of London stating they would "preserve as immutable the feudal system dominating Malay society" by "giving this archaic body of petty constitutional monarchs incredible blocking power";
2464-608: The Cham alphabet are used by the Chams of Vietnam and Cambodia . Old Malay was written using Pallava and Kawi script, as evident from several inscription stones in the Malay region. Starting from the era of kingdom of Pasai and throughout the golden age of the Malacca Sultanate, Jawi gradually replaced these scripts as the most commonly used script in the Malay region. Starting from the 17th century, under Dutch and British influence, Jawi
2552-510: The Home Ministry of Malaysia confirmed that an investigation was being made against the station as it was spreading "malicious lies and threatening unity and harmony among races". The website of Radio Free Sarawak as well as their podcast from iTunes has been inaccessible since 9 April 2011 due to unknown reasons. The inaccessibility of the website coincides with the campaigning period of the bitterly contested 2011 Sarawak elections and may be
2640-423: The Malaysian social contract , cannot have these exceptions applied to it. Section 3(3) goes on to state that "the intention of the person charged at the time he did or attempted (a seditious act) ... shall be deemed to be irrelevant if in fact the act had, or would, if done, have had, or the words, publication or thing had a seditious tendency". This latter provision has been criticised for overruling mens rea ,
2728-583: The Sarawak state government has jammed its service. In its own words, "Radio Free Sarawak is the independent radio station that brings you the news you want to hear, not what others want you to hear." In a report by the London Evening Standard , it was stated that the station aims to "expose the alleged corruption of Taib Mahmud , Chief Minister of ... Sarawak ... and bring an end to his 30-year rule." The station can be seen as an attempt to by-pass
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2816-556: The bumiputra ( Malays and other indigenous peoples, who comprise over half the Malaysian population). The Sedition Act 1948, in its current form (4 June 2015), consists of 11 sections and no schedule (including 6 amendments), without separate Part. The law was introduced by the British in 1948, the same year that the autonomous Federation of Malaya came into being, with the intent of curbing opposition to colonial rule. The law remained on
2904-498: The "Free Media Pioneer" award from the International Press Institute (IPI) ahead of World Press Freedom Day in 2013. Podcasts of Radio Free Sarawak have also been distributed via CDs and VCDs together with TV Free Sarawak into the interior of Sarawak where the internet penetration is still low. However, on 6 January 2011, there was an incident where the activists and lawyers possessing such materials were detained by
2992-603: The Act is "irrelevant" was unconstitutional. The Sedition Act would be unconstitutional, as the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, without Article 10(2) of the Constitution , which permits Parliament to enact "such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, friendly relations with other countries, public order or morality and restrictions designed to protect
3080-469: The Act is not meant to suppress the freedom of speech, but to prevent people from making statements that would "destabilise the country". Some key amendments to the Act include: It is still an offence to bring hatred, contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or Government in Malaysia. The amendment has not been fully passed in the Parliament as of 5 October 2023. After the word "publishes",
3168-422: The Constitution to expand the scope of limitations on freedom of speech. The Constitution (Amendment) Act 1971 named Articles 152 , 153 , and 181 , and also Part III of the Constitution as specially protected, permitting Parliament to pass legislation that would limit dissent with regard to these provisions pertaining to the social contract . (The social contract is essentially a quid pro quo agreement between
3256-720: The DAP, which had been a vocal opponent of the Sedition Act and the Internal Security Act (ISA), filed a police report against UMNO, whose annual general assembly had been noted for its heated rhetoric, with delegates making statements such as "Umno is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood to defend the race and religion. Don't play with fire. If they (non-Malays) messed with our rights, we will mess with theirs." In response, Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said that this indicated that
3344-623: The Federal constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution. Section 3(2) provides certain exceptions, providing examples of speech which cannot be deemed seditious. It is not seditious to "show that any Ruler has been misled or mistaken in any of his measures", nor is it seditious "to point out errors or defects in the Government or Constitution as by law established". It is also not seditious "to attempt to procure by lawful means
3432-484: The Malay and non-Malay citizens of Peninsular Malaysia; in return for granting the non-Malays citizenship at independence, symbols of Malay authority such as the Malay monarchy became national symbols, and the Malays were granted special economic privileges.) With this new power, Parliament then amended the Sedition Act accordingly. The new restrictions also applied to Members of Parliament, overruling Parliamentary immunity ; at
3520-404: The Malay world of Southeast Asia, and was one of the oldest testimonies to the advent of Islam as a state religion in the region. It contains the proclamation issued by a ruler of Terengganu known as Seri Paduka Tuan, urging his subjects to extend and uphold Islam and providing 10 basic Sharia laws for their guidance. The classical Malay language came into widespread use as the lingua franca of
3608-994: The Malayic languages spoken by the Orang Asli ( Proto-Malay ) in Malaya . They are Jakun , Orang Kanaq , Orang Seletar , and Temuan . The other Malayic languages, included in neither of these groups, are associated with the expansion of the Malays across the archipelago. They include Riau-Johor Malay ( Malaysian and Indonesian ), Kedah Malay , Kedayan/Brunei Malay , Berau Malay , Bangka Malay , Jambi Malay , Kutai Malay , Natuna Malay, Riau Malay , Loncong , Pattani Malay , and Banjarese . Menterap may belong here. There are also several Malay-based creole languages , such as Betawi , Cocos Malay , Makassar Malay , Ambonese Malay , Dili Malay , Kupang Malay , Manado Malay , Papuan Malay , Pattani Malay , Satun Malay , Songkhla Malay , Bangkok Malay , and Sabah Malay , which may be more or less distinct from standard (Malaccan) Malay. Due to
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3696-515: The Malaysia-focused blog Sarawak Report to advocate for environmental causes, indigenous rights and anti-corruption. Incidentally, Brown is the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown . Better known by his on-air pseudonym, Papa Orang Utan , Jaban is an Iban from Sarawak and a former civil servant with the Land and Survey Office of Kuching . He was also a former DJ of
3784-695: The Sedition Act continued to remain relevant to Malaysian society. He also denied that the government intentionally used the act to silence dissent or to advance particular political interests. In November 2020, a student group at the University of Malaya called the Association of New Youth (UMANY) was investigated under the Sedition Act after posting an article on Facebook titled “Yang di-Pertuan Agong should not intervene in national affairs". Amnesty International Malaysia published an article that described this investigation as "appalling" and claimed that it "violated
3872-410: The Sedition Act is an attack on the freedom of speech in Malaysia. Critics argue that the definition of sedition in the Act is vague or overly "broad and inflexible", which could "potentially lead to an "overreach" or an "abusive application of the law". In November 2020, Amnesty International Malaysia launched a virtual campaign called "Unsilenced" to urge the Malaysian government to repeal and amend
3960-654: The actual ancestor of Classical Malay. Old Malay was influenced by Sanskrit, the classical language of India . Sanskrit loan words can be found in Old Malay vocabulary. The earliest known stone inscription in the Old Malay language was found in Sumatra , Indonesia, written in the Pallava variety of the Grantha alphabet and is dated 1 May 683. Known as the Kedukan Bukit inscription , it
4048-410: The alteration of any matter in the territory of such Government as by law established" or "to point out, with a view to their removal, any matters producing or having a tendency to produce feelings of ill-will and enmity between different races or classes of the population of the Federation". However, the act explicitly states that any matter covered by subsection (1)(f), namely those matters pertaining to
4136-524: The changing political landscape where people can easily spread seditious remarks through the Internet - "Last time, there was no Internet and non-verbal communication over social media. Those days, we didn't have groups of people inciting people (in Sabah and Sarawak) to get out of Malaysia. Human rights advocates such from organizations such as Amnesty International and Article 19 have made consistent claims that
4224-549: The colonial language, Dutch, is no longer commonly spoken. (In East Timor , which was governed as a province of Indonesia from 1976 to 1999, Indonesian is widely spoken and recognized under its Constitution as a 'working language'.) Besides Indonesian , which developed from the Riau Malay dialect, there are many Malay varieties spoken in Indonesia; they are divided into western and eastern groups. Western Malay dialects are predominantly spoken in Sumatra and Borneo , which itself
4312-671: The constitution as one of two working languages (the other being English ), alongside the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese . The extent to which Malay is used in these countries varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Malay is the national language in Malaysia by Article 152 of the Constitution of Malaysia , and became the sole official language in Peninsular Malaysia in 1968 and in East Malaysia gradually from 1974. English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and commercial fields and in
4400-441: The continued circulation of the publication would likely lead to "bodily injury or damage to property" or "feelings of ill will, hostility or hatred" between the "different races or classes" of Malaysia or between persons on "the grounds of religion". The new Section 10(1A)(b) allows the court to make a prohibition order to "remove any Seditious publications which is made by electronic means such as online publication" and prohibits
4488-555: The control of mass media outlets in Sarawak which are controlled by Taib's government and logging companies. Born in colonial Sarawak to British parents, Brown is best known as an environmental and anti-corruption activist who started her career as a journalist with the BBC in 1983. In 2008, she returned to Sarawak to report on a by-election and secretly filmed companies clearing rainforests for oil palm plantations. In 2010, she anonymously founded
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#17328758483754576-505: The court moved to establish the Johor Sultanate, it continued using the classical language; it has become so associated with Dutch Riau and British Johor that it is often assumed that the Malay of Riau is close to the classical language. However, there is no closer connection between Malaccan Malay as used on Riau and the Riau vernacular. Among the oldest surviving letters written in Malay are
4664-481: The early settlement of a Cape Malay community in Cape Town , who are now known as Coloureds , numerous Classical Malay words were brought into Afrikaans . The extent to which Malay and related Malayan languages are used in the countries where it is spoken varies depending on historical and cultural circumstances. Malay is the national language in Malaysia by Article 152 of the Constitution of Malaysia , and became
4752-474: The eastern part of the Malay or Nusantara archipelago and include Makassar Malay , Manado Malay , Ambonese Malay , North Moluccan Malay , Kupang Malay , Dili Malay , and Papuan Malay . The differences among both groups are quite observable. For example, the word kita means 'we, us' in western, but means 'I, me' in Manado, whereas 'we, us" in Manado is torang and Ambon katong (originally abbreviated from Malay kita orang 'we people'). Another difference
4840-590: The far southern parts of the Philippines . They have traditionally been classified as Malay, Para-Malay, and Aboriginal Malay, but this reflects geography and ethnicity rather than a proper linguistic classification. The Malayic languages are mutually intelligible to varying extents, though the distinction between language and dialect is unclear in many cases. Para-Malay includes the Malayic languages of Sumatra . They are: Minangkabau , Central Malay (Bengkulu), Pekal , Talang Mamak , Musi (Palembang), Negeri Sembilan (Malaysia), and Duano’ . Aboriginal Malay are
4928-514: The highlands of Sumatra , Indonesia . Terengganu Inscription Stone (Malay: Batu Bersurat Terengganu ; Jawi: باتو برسورت ترڠݢانو ) is a granite stele carrying inscription in Jawi script that was found in Terengganu, Malaysia is the earliest evidence of classical Malay inscription. The inscription, dated possibly to 702 AH (corresponds to 1303 CE), constituted the earliest evidence of Jawi writing in
5016-473: The implementation thereof as may be specified in such law". These portions of the Constitution have been criticised by human rights advocates, who charge that "under the Malaysian Constitution, the test is not whether or not the restriction is necessarily but the much lower standard of whether or not Parliament deems the restrictions necessary or even expedient. There is no objective requirement that
5104-554: The language is sometimes called Malacca, Johor or Riau Malay (or various combinations of those names) to distinguish it from the various other Malayic languages . According to Ethnologue 16, several of the Malayic varieties they currently list as separate languages, including the Orang Asli varieties of Peninsular Malay , are so closely related to standard Malay that they may prove to be dialects. There are also several Malay trade and creole languages (e.g. Ambonese Malay ) based on
5192-746: The languages' words for kinship, health, body parts and common animals. Numbers, especially, show remarkable similarities. Within Austronesian, Malay is part of a cluster of numerous closely related forms of speech known as the Malayic languages , which were spread across Malaya and the Indonesian archipelago by Malay traders from Sumatra. There is disagreement as to which varieties of speech popularly called "Malay" should be considered dialects of this language, and which should be classified as distinct Malay languages. The vernacular of Brunei— Brunei Malay —for example,
5280-454: The letters from Sultan Abu Hayat of Ternate , Maluku Islands in present-day Indonesia , dated around 1521–1522. The text is addressed to the king of Portugal , following contact with Portuguese explorer Francisco Serrão . The letters show sign of non-native usage; the Ternateans used (and still use) the unrelated Ternate language , a West Papuan language , as their first language . Malay
5368-401: The move was cast as hypocritical, given that Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak had spoken of "the full realization that important matters must no longer be swept under the carpet..." There have been several challenges to the constitutionality of the Sedition Act. In 2016, Malaysia's Court of Appeal ruled that the section of the Act which states that the intention of a person charged under
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#17328758483755456-478: The national language ( bahasa kebangsaan or bahasa nasional ) of several nation states with various official names: in Malaysia, it is designated as either Bahasa Malaysia (" Malaysian ") or also Bahasa Melayu ("Malay language"); in Singapore and Brunei, it is called Bahasa Melayu ("Malay language"); in Indonesia, an autonomous normative variety called Bahasa Indonesia (" Indonesian language ")
5544-548: The online publication Malaysiakini was temporarily shut down under the Sedition Act after it published a letter criticising Malay special rights and compared the Youth wing of a government party to the Ku Klux Klan . Previously in 1978, the Sedition Act had been invoked in another case of educational policy, when Mark Koding argued in Parliament that the government ought to close down Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools. In 2006,
5632-539: The opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), had also been charged with sedition after claiming Anwar had been poisoned by "people in high places". Lim Guan Eng , a former Member of Parliament from the opposing party DAP, had also been found guilty of sedition in 1998 for accusing the Attorney General of failing to properly handle a case where the Chief Minister of Malacca had been charged with statutory rape of
5720-431: The option of answering questions using Jawi. The Latin script, however, is the most commonly used in Brunei and Malaysia, both for official and informal purposes. Historically, Malay has been written using various scripts. Before the introduction of Arabic script in the Malay region, Malay was written using the Pallava , Kawi and Rencong scripts; these scripts are no longer frequently used, but similar scripts such as
5808-402: The passing of the law from the top United Nations human rights official Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. The government has said that these amendments were made to prevent malicious individuals from using the Internet to cause racial disharmony and divisions in Malaysian society. Former Minister of Home Affairs, Zahid Hamidi , stated that the "unity of the country remains our topmost priority," and that
5896-626: The person circulating the prohibited publication from using any electronic devices. The new section 10A also gives the courts special powers to issue orders involving prohibited publication through electronic means. If the publication is considered to be seditious, "the Sessions Court Judge shall make an order directing an officer authorized under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 [Act 588] to prevent access to such publication.” Zahid Hamidi stated that these amendments were made because
5984-420: The police and home ministry officials and the materials were confiscated, citing the possible violation of Film Censorship Act and section 4(1) of the Sedition Act (Malaysia) . The activists were supposed to be charged in magistrate court on 7 February, but home ministry officials did not turn up. The Sarawak Barisan Nasional had stated that they would like to see legal action taken against Radio Free Sarawak and
6072-415: The privileges of Parliament or of any Legislative Assembly or to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence". Article 10(4) also states that "Parliament may pass law prohibiting the questioning of any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III, article 152, 153 or 181 otherwise than in relation to
6160-684: The pronunciation of words ending in the vowel 'a'. For example, in some parts of Malaysia and in Singapore, kita (inclusive 'we, us, our') is pronounced as /kitə/ , in Kelantan and Southern Thailand as /kitɔ/ , in Riau as /kita/ , in Palembang as /kito/ , in Betawi and Perak as /kitɛ/ and in Kedah and Perlis as /kitɑ/. Sedition Act (Malaysia) The Sedition Act 1948 ( Malay : Akta Hasutan 1948 ) in Malaysia
6248-528: The region during the Malacca Sultanate era (1402–1511). It was the period the Malay language developed rapidly under the influence of Islamic literature. The development changed the nature of the language with massive infusion of Arabic , Sanskrit , and Tamil vocabularies, called Classical Malay . Under the Sultanate of Malacca the language evolved into a form recognisable to speakers of modern Malay. When
6336-416: The restriction actually is necessary or expedient and the latter standard is much lower than that of necessity." Section 4 of the Sedition Act specifies that anyone who "does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do" an act with seditious tendency, such as uttering seditious words, or printing, publishing or importing seditious literature, is guilty of sedition. It
6424-602: The same time, Article 159, which governs Constitutional amendments, was amended to entrench the "sensitive" Constitutional provisions; in addition to the consent of Parliament, any changes to the "sensitive" portions of the Constitution would now have to pass the Conference of Rulers , a body comprising the monarchs of the Malay states . These later amendments were harshly criticised by the opposition parties in Parliament, who had campaigned for greater political equality for non-Malays in
6512-583: The sole official language in West Malaysia in 1968, and in East Malaysia gradually from 1974. English continues, however, to be widely used in professional and commercial fields and in the superior courts. Other minority languages are also commonly used by the country's large ethnic minorities. The situation in Brunei is similar to that of Malaysia. In Singapore, Malay was historically the lingua franca among people of different nationalities. Although this has largely given way to English, Malay still retains
6600-694: The state-owned Cats FM radio station. Jaban worked the airwaves for that station from 1996-1999. Jaban also served as the Deputy Chairperson of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association and was active as a human rights activist in Sarawak. He is now actively involved with the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement , a non-profit organisation based in London , United Kingdom . In June 2012, Jaban returned to Sarawak purportedly for
6688-437: The station can be received by shortwave on 15420 kHz. It also produced podcasts for its programmes daily from 1100–1300 UTC or 7:00–9:00 pm at Sarawak local time ( UTC+8 ). The station received wide publicity in Malaysia after the brief disappearance of Jaban. However it was later discovered that he had gone into hiding voluntarily. On 15 November 2014, the radio suspended its shortwave transmission services and claimed
6776-435: The status of national language and the national anthem , Majulah Singapura , is entirely in Malay. In addition, parade commands in the military, police and civil defence are given only in Malay. Most residents of the five southernmost provinces of Thailand —a region that, for the most part, used to be part of an ancient Malay kingdom called Pattani —speak a dialect of Malay called Yawi (not to be confused with Jawi), which
6864-458: The statute books through independence in 1957, and the merger with Sabah , Sarawak and Singapore that formed Malaysia. The Federal Constitution of Malaya and later Malaysia permitted Parliament to impose restrictions on the freedom of speech granted by the Constitution. After the May 13 Incident , when racial riots in the capital of Kuala Lumpur led to at least 200 deaths, the government amended
6952-414: The students freedom of expression." Since 2011, former Primer Minister Najib Razak has made several promises to abolish the Sedition Act. However in 2015, he went back on his word and made amendments to the 1948 Act that strengthened it instead. For example, it included an online media ban and mandatory jail following the arrest of a Malaysian cartoonist over a series of tweets. Sharp criticism followed
7040-486: The subjects of the Ruler or the inhabitants of any territory governed by any government to attempt to procure in the territory of the Ruler or governed by the Government, the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of any matter as by law established; (c) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Malaysia or in any State; (d) to raise discontent or disaffection amongst
7128-446: The subjects of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or of the Ruler of any State or amongst the inhabitants of Malaysia or of any State; (e) to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia; or (f) to question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of part III of
7216-590: The superior courts. Other minority languages are also commonly used by the country's large ethnic minorities. The situation in Brunei is similar to that in Malaysia. In the Philippines , Indonesian is spoken by the overseas Indonesian community concentrated in Davao City . Functional phrases are taught to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as well as local students. Malay, like most Austronesian languages,
7304-417: The words "or caused to be publish" has now been added under Section 4. It also substituted the word "import" to "propagate" seditious publication under Section 4. The Act does not clearly define what "propagate" means. Some people, including an article published by The Star , have claimed that these amendments were made with current forms of dissent in mind, such as critical postings on social media. This
7392-552: Was charged with sedition for alleging that the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), had provoked the massacres of the Chinese during the May 13 Incident . The editor for the opposition was also charged with sedition for alleging a government conspiracy against Anwar Ibrahim , a former Deputy Prime Minister, had led to his political downfall. Anwar's lead counsel, Karpal Singh , who was also deputy chairman of
7480-612: Was discovered by the Dutchman M. Batenburg on 29 November 1920 at Kedukan Bukit, South Sumatra , on the banks of the Tatang, a tributary of the Musi River . It is a small stone of 45 by 80 centimetres (18 by 31 in). For centuries, Srivijaya , through its expansion, economic power and military prowess, was responsible for the widespread of Old Malay throughout the Malay Archipelago . It
7568-452: Was gradually replaced by the Rumi script. Malay is spoken in Brunei , Indonesia , Malaysia , East Timor , Singapore and southern Thailand . Indonesia regulates its own normative variety of Malay, while Malaysia and Singapore use a common standard. Brunei, in addition to Standard Malay, uses a distinct vernacular dialect called Brunei Malay . In East Timor , Indonesian is recognised by
7656-601: Was the working language of traders and it was used in various ports, and marketplaces in the region. Other evidence is the Tanjung Tanah Law in post-Pallava letters. This 14th-century pre-Islamic legal text was produced in the Adityawarman era (1345–1377) of Dharmasraya , a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom that arose after the end of Srivijayan rule in Sumatra . The laws were for the Minangkabau people , who today still live in
7744-903: Was used solely as a lingua franca for inter-ethnic communications. Malay is a member of the Austronesian family of languages, which includes languages from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean , with a smaller number in continental Asia . Malagasy , a geographic outlier spoken in Madagascar in the Indian Ocean , is also a member of this language family. Although these languages are not necessarily mutually intelligible to any extent, their similarities are often quite apparent. In more conservative languages like Malay, many roots have come with relatively little change from their common ancestor, Proto-Austronesian language . There are many cognates found in
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