communities, this is mere tokenism and an attempt to bolster the decision maker’s authority who will then cite this so called consultation to stave off criticisms of the ultimate decision. Proposal – engage with majority community: Unfortunately, our consultative council does not include Islam, the religion of the majority community in Malaysia. As Islam is set out in the Malaysian Federal Constitution as the established religion of the country, Islamic authorities are members of the Government service and do not consider it proper to be involved in an NGO. However, what we have seen is that with more dialogue with civil society actors from the majority community or when we are able to persuade respected religious leaders from the majority religion as to the merits of our complaints, many problems are resolved. Thus, effective political action and effective participation seems to me to require engagement with the majority community. Recommendation: I would there ask that this Forum includes as a recommendation the creation of consultative bodies who would be required to act through consultation, mediation and negotiation to overcome discriminatory practices impacting on minority rights. Those consultative bodies must include respected members of the majority community who are attuned to the need to be fair to minorities. All government departments should be obligated to seek the views of this consultative body when issues touching on minority rights arise. This body could also act as an innovative form of the independent monitoring body envisaged in paragraph 30 of the Background Paper. Thank you for your time. ****************ENDS********************* Shanmuga KANESALINGAM Legal Adviser, Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism & Taoism c/o Buddhist Maha Vihara, 123, Jalan Berhala, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur Tel: +6.03.2273.9304 Fax: +6.03.2273.9307 Email: mccbchst@yahoo.com / mrgohkp@gmail.com Web: http://harmonymalaysia.wordpress.com/ Personal contact details: 5th Floor, Wisma T.K. Tang, 4, Jalan Yap Ah Loy, 50050 Kuala Lumpur. T: +.6.03.2070.2299 F: +6.03.2078.2845 E: shan@kanesalingam.com / k.shanmuga@gmail.com W: www.kanesalingam.com / www.loyarburok.com