00:00The High Court, in a landmark ruling, affirmed that individuals may take legal action against
00:06fellow citizens for breaches of constitutional rights. Justice Amarjeet Singh ruled that
00:11preacher Firdaus Wong had infringed the constitutional rights of eight non-Muslim parents
00:16through a social media video encouraging covert conversion of their minor children.
00:21He relied on the Shamala Saidiya Silin v. Dr. Jayaganesh Simogaraja case,
00:26saying that citizens have a correlative duty to respect others' constitutional rights.
00:32Firdaus' lawyer, Narazali Nordin, argued that breaches of the constitution do not allow one
00:37citizen to sue another, citing Beatriz Fernandez v. Sistem Penabangan Malaysia and others.
00:43However, Justice Amarjeet ruled that the parents had locus stand-eye to sue in both personal and
00:48public interest capacities and ordered Firdaus to permanently remove the video. The judge found
00:54that Firdaus sought to circumvent Article 12 sub 4 of the constitution, which grants parents the
00:59right to decide their child's religion. He expressed surprise that no enforcement action had been taken
01:04against Firdaus, whose actions he said threatened public order and religious harmony.
01:10Dhanushar Jareza, FMT
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