Nearly a decade from formation, where to next for ex-top civil servant lobby group G25?

PETALING JAYA, May 28 — The group calling itself G25 first became vocal in December 2015, calling in an open letter for then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to address religious and racial tensions, and exercise his leadership in guiding Malaysia back to moderation.

Almost a decade later, the group — which was named for its original 25 former high-ranking civil servants — said it has since expanded, and will continue to ensure that the administration of the day practices good governance.

“[At the end of the day] what we want is just good governance. If someone comes out with a statement regarding good governance we will praise it, but if somebody comes up with a statement that is anti-good governance we will criticise it.

“So sometimes we feel that by responding we are not contributing to the betterment of Malaysian society, it’s better to be quiet,” group member Datuk Dr Narimah Awin, one of the country’s top public and reproductive health experts, told Malay Mail in a recent interview.

The group insisted that it operates more like a civil society, rather than an activist group — highlighting the credentials of its members such as co-founder Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim who was formerly the Finance Ministry secretary-general, former Court of Appeal judge Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus, and Dr Narimah who was a senior policy maker in the Health Ministry.

Other publicly prominent members included co-founder and diplomat Datuk Noor Farida Arifin, Monash University Malaysia chief executive officer Prof Adeeba Kamarulzaman, and former Public Services Department director-general Tan Sri Alwi Jantan.

“We are Malay and Muslims, and later on we opened up to others,” said Dr Narimah.

“The first letter to Najib, December 2015, what made [G25] unhappy was the Islamisation of the country that was going the wrong way. It was going through extremism, it was going through many things, we felt disturbed, and we got together and that’s how we started this.”

With the country going through four administrations since then, Sheriff stressed that the group remains non-partisan.

“We don’t recruit, it’s all voluntary. We are quite comfortable [now], we have legal, we have ex-ambassadors, former administrative and diplomatic officers then health experts, so we don’t feel we need to recruit,” Sheriff said.

Co-Founder of G25 Malaysia, Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim delivers his welcoming speech during the G25’s book launch and forum on ‘Institutional Reforms and the Federal Constitution for a Better Malaysia’ at Rumah Kelab Persatuan Alumni Universiti Malaya (PAUM Clubhouse) in Kuala Lumpur May 25, 2024. — Picture by Hari Anggara

While Noor Farida had been its spokesman early on, G25 said the group does not have a top-down hierarchy.

Therefore, different members would usually take the lead or public role depending on their expertise and enthusiasm for the topics or issues.

Since 2015, G25 has commented on many issues involving the Islamisation of the country, such as laws against apostasy, the constitutionality of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim), the Islamic state model by hardliner Islamist groups, and manhunt against transgender Muslims.

In 2020, it published an extensive report on the administration of Islam within the country, which was submitted to then-Islamic affairs minister Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa.

However, it has also spoken up on other issues such as labour rights, the Political Funding Bill, the role of education institutions, and the scrapped Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

Speaking up on those issues was not an easy journey, the group said, pointing to the backlash from some in the public over certain issues.

“The Islamic groups think that we are trying to be secular, influenced by Western ideas, but we are not. The G25 is non-partisan, we are neutral,” Sheriff said.

The group said among its many focuses is on institutional reforms, and Dr Narimah said that more can be done despite several signs of progress since its inception.

Datuk Dr Narimah Awin (centre) chairs the ‘Institutional Reforms and the Federal Constitution for a Better Malaysia’ forum with the panellists, Liyana Marzuki, political activist and writer (left), Dr Syed Alwee Alsagoff, Fellow, Majlis Professor Negara Malaysia (second left), Dr Azmi Sharom, deputy chairperson, Malaysian Election Commission (second right) and Dr KJ John, Ex PTD Officer, Civil Activist, and Founder of OHMSI (right) at Rumah Kelab Persatuan Alumni Universiti Malaya (PAUM Clubhouse) in Kuala Lumpur May 25, 2024. — Picture by Hari Anggara

“We wish there was more progress, but certainly not zero. A good example is the Parliamentary Special Select Committees, there are more today. To make one progressive amendment, they made five other amendments which are aggressive in nature, which is a step backward, while it is very slow with political funding laws.

“So yes there has been progress but not fast enough,” Dr Narimah said.

Reminiscing on the past, Hishamudin said that Malaysia can really use a National Harmony Act.

“After so many years of independence, the polarisation of races is still there that’s the sad thing. We should be moving forward but I think we are not, either we are just stagnant or getting worse,” Hishamudin said.

“I think the government must step in, a National Harmony Act is long overdue, to address these occurrences like extremism, which tend to incite either in terms of race or religious [hatred].

“We need such a law, we need to enforce such a law the enforcement must be fair, it cannot be selective, the government has got to be fair and play a positive role in this regard,” he added.

In October 2018, under the Pakatan Harapan administration, then national unity minister P. Waytha Moorthy said the government would seek the public’s feedback in formulating a new National Harmony Bill. The move was scuppered by the fall of the government.

On Saturday, G25 published a book entitled G25 Statements (2014-2023) to commemorate its 10 years of active participation in issues of injustice and extremism, compiling 185 statements it had issued since its formation.

In March the group had in its last statement urged the authorities to take action against the vigilante groups who took matters into their own hands. It also supported Penang Mufti Wan Salim Mohd Noor’s statement calling for restraint in commenting on the incident at a KK Super Mart outlet in Bandar Sunway over the word “Allah” printed on some socks.