The House of Senate (Dewan Negara)s Role in approving a Bill into an Act Introduction The House of Senate, also

known as Dewan Negara is the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia. The Senate compromises of 70 members, of which 26 are indirectly elected by the states, with two senators for each states Legislative Assembly in the Federation, and the other 44 being appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The King) from among the citizens believed to achieve distinctions in the professions, commerce, industry, agriculture, cultural activities or social service or are representative of racial minorities or are capable of representing the interests of aborigines. The Senate reviews legislation (Bills) that has been passed by the lower house of Parliament (House of Representives), known as the Dewan Rakyat before presenting the Bill to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Both the House meets at the Houses of Parliament. Both houses must pass a bill before it can be sent to the King for royal assent; however, if the Senate rejects a bill, it can only delay the bill's passage by a year (at the most) before it is sent to the King. Originally, the Senate was meant to act as a check on the House of Representatives, and also to represent the interests of the various states. However, the original Constitution which provided for a majority of state-elected Senators has since been modified to make those appointed by the King in the majority. Senates have no authority to revoke any Bill and usually act as a forum which public officers and politicians discuss about the interest of public.

Bill in the House of Senate (Dewan Negara) The bill arrives in the House of Senate after it had undergone three readings in the House of Representatives, if the Bill originates from the House of Representatives. On the other hand if the Bill originated from the House of Senates, it has to undergo three readings before it is passed to the House of Representative. First, we will discuss about the steps the Bill undergoes in the House of Senates if its originated from the House of Representatives.

Once the Bill has passed all the three readings in the House of Representatives, it will be forwarded to the House of Senates. Here the Bill will undergo three readings again before it is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. y 1st Reading in the House of Senates   This reading is a mere formality. Once the bill has successfully undergone the three readings in the House of Representatives and approved. It will be sent to the House of Senates. Here, in the House of Senates, the Bill will be presented in the 1st reading as an introduction to all the House members. During this 1st reading, the wont be any debates about the Bill as its only for the sake of introduction. The Bill is then sent to either the Senate Committee or the Floor for consideration report. The committee later analyzes the Bill thoroughly and comes up with a consideration report. Later the committee report is presented to the house whether the Bill is either y y y y  Favorable Favorable with amendments Tabled (no action taken) Unfavorable

Once the committee report has presented, there ends the 1st reading and the Bill now moves to the 2nd reading.

2nd Reading in the House of Senates  The 2nd reading in the House of Senates is divided into two parts. The 1st part is debated among the House members and the 2nd part is a more detailed debate among the special committee members. In the 2nd reading also, its a must to have the Bill printed and circulated among all House of Senate members, otherwise the Bill presentation cant be carried out.  Once the Bill has undergone the 1st reading in the House, it will then be preceded to the 2nd reading. The 2nd reading is the major part where amendments will be made to the Bill. In the 2nd reading, debate on the Bill will take place. It will be thoroughly debated about its implementation, effectiveness and its effect on the general public.

After the debate session, the Bill is required to be seconded by another member of the House of Senates, only then it will then be taken to the next part in the 2nd reading  In the 2nd part of the 2nd reading which is called Committee Stage, the bill will be debated in a deeper length among the special committee member (formed from the members of the House itself in order to discuss the Bill in more depth). The reason why the committee is formed to discuss the Bill in this stage is to allow the smaller amount of members discuss each part of the Bill in detail and debate in a more informal way among each other. During the debate, amendments to Bill will also be proposed. Once discussion and debate has ended, a motion to present the amendments will be made to the House of Senates. Once the motion has been accepted, the House of Senates will resume sitting and presentation will take place and thus ends the Committee stage.  Here a voting will take place. At least 2/3 of the total House of Senates members present have to agree on the Bill for it to be approved to the 3rd stage  Hence ends the 2nd reading in the House of Senates. The Bill is now preceded to the 3rd reading. y 3rd Reading in the House of Senates  With the amendments proposed by the Committee in the 2nd stage, the Bill is now presented again. The amendments are also debated in detail. Once the debate is done. The voting process is done again. To continue, the Bill with the amendments needs to get 2/3 of the total number of the House of Senate members present then.  Spelling mistakes, any syntax error correction is allowed to be done in the 3rd Reading  Once the Bill has successfully passed the voting by getting the majority (2/3) vote, the Bill is now ready to be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The King). y To be noted, according to Article 68 that if the House of Senate doesnt take any action on the Bill for more then 12 months, then a notice will be sent to the House of Senate to review the Bill in a month time, and if so, the House of Senate still fails to take any action, the Bill is automatically passes through the House of Senate sitting, and is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. This shows that the House of Senate lacks the

power of revoking any Bill but then has the advantage to either delay or fasten the enforcement of Bill to an Act. y An exception is to the Money Bill which has to be passed by the House of Senates without any amendments or delay. Here, it shows the supremacy of the House of Representatives over the House of Senates (to be noted: any Money Bills can only be originated from the House of Representatives). Thus ends the House of Senates participation in the approval of Bill to an Act if the Bill originates from the House of Representatives. The next section will be on the House on Senates participation if the Bill is originated from House of Senate. The flow of events where the Bill has to undergo is similar to those mentioned above. As said earlier all the Bills can be initiated from the House of Senates except the Money Bill. The 1st step of a formation of a Bill in the House of Senate is suggestion from a member of the Senate. The clerk of the House of Senates has to be given notice earlier by the House member suggesting the Bill. Later on the Peguam Negara will translate the suggestion into a Bill according to the Constitution. This then leads to the 1st Reading of the Bill during the House of Senates sitting. y 1st Reading in the House of Senates  The order of event occurrence is as same as what happens in the 1st reading in the House of Senate when the Bill originates from the House of Representatives y 2nd Reading in the House of Senates  The order of event occurrence is as same as what happens in the 2nd reading in the House of Senate when the Bill originates from the House of Representatives y 3rd Reading in the House of Senates  The order of event occurrence is as same as what happens in the 3rdreading in the House of Senate when the Bill originates from the House of Representatives

The bill will then proceed to the House of Representatives, and later on to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong before it is Gazzated The House of Senate basically doesnt play a strong role as the House of Representatives in the process of lawmaking in Malaysia. This is because, the House of Representative has the right to revoke any Bill (even if its originated from the House of Senates) but the House of Senates doesnt have this specialty (in the case of Money Bill).

A real life example that can be cited is the Supply Act 2011. The bill is still in the process of the Second and Third Reading in the House of Senate. The Supply Act 2011 deals about the total money issued from the Consolidated Funds for the use of the Government for the year of 2011 for the beneficiary of the general public. A total of RM129,493,783,700 has been issued with the bill having specified in detail how much sum is allocated for the Ministries, Parliaments, Office of the Keeper of the Rulers Seal, and other Government bodies. Interestingly, to be noted, this Bill is falls under the Money Bill category, thus it is originated from the House of Representatives. Being in the Second and Third Reading in the House of Senate, means the Bill has successfully bypassed the House of Representatives. Also to be noted, since its a Money Bill, the House of Senate doesnt have the privilege to amend anything in the Bill or to delay the approval of the Bill from the House.

Another example that can be cited is the suggestion by on of the member of the House of Senate, Tuan Ramakrishnan a/l Suppiah to amend and raise the age of alcohol consumption from 18 years old to 21 years old, restrict the sales of alcohol to underage, reducing the opening hours of liquor shops to reduce the alcohol consumption among youths during the House of Senate seating on the 27th of April 2010. The suggestion raised by the House member is the initiation to the forming of an act, in this case, an amendment to an Act. The procedure which follows will then be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reading in the House of Senate , and then, it will move on to the House of Representatives and then to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for His royal Assent before the amendment will be finalized.