PETALING JAYA: Foreigners were appointed to draft the constitution of Malaya as they could ensure the country was administered based on modern Western laws, says prominent historian and social critic Khoo Kay Kim.

He said the outgoing British colonial administrators as well as local leaders were concerned about how Malaya would be run after independence.

“The introduction of western laws was an important aspect in this regard,” Khoo told FMT, when asked for his response on a senior lawyer’s view questioning the members of The Reid Commission which was tasked with preparing the constitution in the months leading to independence in 1957.

Tommy Thomas said all five members of the commission were foreigners who are all legally-trained. He also questioned the absence of a Malayan historian, political thinker or economist in the commission.

“With such omissions, it is not surprising that The Reid Commission Report is very much a lawyer’s document for an audience of lawyers,” he said.

Thomas also claimed that the Reid draft suffered structural defects because of the monopoly enjoyed by the Alliance coalition whose views were given weight compared to other political parties and interests.

The Reid Commission is named after British judge William Reid. The other members of the commission were British academic Ivor Jennings, former Australian governor-general William McKell, and judges B Malik and Halim Abdul Hamid, respectively from India and Pakistan.

Khoo said modern laws were important for Malaya then in its dealings with countries such as US and Japan who were buying Malayan tin, rubber and iron, he said.

“We were very much involved with other countries commercially and economically,” he said.

Khoo said The Reid Commission had also included local laws in drafting the constitution.

“For instance, the first state to have a written constitution was modern Johor in 1895,” he said.

Lawyer says Reid Commission members not right persons to draft constitution