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Section 29(1) of the Government Proceedings Act 1956 ('GPA') provides that in any private suit, the relief available to the government is equally available to the private individual. But immediately after that comes a startling proviso: Injunctions cannot be ordered against the government. As succour, declaratory relief is instead offered. On its face, the rule reads fairly clear: no to injunctions; yes to declarations. But it is not so, for the crucial question is whether all forms of injunction—broadly speaking, interim and perpetual injunctions—are forbidden against the government. The answer is yes: Our section 29(1)(a) jurisprudence (minus a few dissenting voices) prohibits all forms of injunction against the government. It relies, for the most part, on Government of Malaysia v. Lim Kit Siang as binding authority. Because that reliance is totally misplaced, most of our section 29(1)(a) cases are wrong, and must be reversed. This is, to the author's knowledge, the first detailed analysis of our section 29(1)(a) jurisprudence. The conclusions reached in this article might ruffle some feathers—perhaps because it calls for the mass reversal of superior-court decisions on section 29(1)(a). Readers, however, are encouraged to approach these arguments with an open mind, engaging thoughtfully with the analysis offered.

Professor Dr Luis María Palma, President of the International Association for Court Administration (or "IACA")
Honourable Chief Justices, Justices and delegates
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

I. Introduction

1. A very good morning. Let me first add my words of welcome to those of Professor Palma, as I extend an especially warm welcome to all of you who have travelled from abroad to join us in Singapore.

2. The IACA celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and the theme that has been chosen for this year's Conference – "Building Trust in the Judiciary" – is particularly apt for these times. For some years now, the world has witnessed declining trust in public institutions.^[1] Indeed, a few years ago, distrust was said to have become "society's default emotion".^[2] And this sits alongside other dramatic challenges confronting our societies, such as the transformative impact of technological advancements; the proliferation of disinformation in public discourse; and the global access to justice crisis. As these challenges sweep through our societies, it is critical that our courts continue to serve as trusted and respected institutions for delivering justice and for upholding the rule of law. This means that now – perhaps more than ever – inspiring and sustaining trust in our justice systems must be the central and overarching mission for our judiciaries.

Malaysia's public healthcare sector risks losing even more professionals if the Health Ministry refuses to take immediate measures to improve their livelihoods. Government healthcare workers, upset with the ministry's decision to reject the proposal to increase on-call allowances, told the New Straits Times that they were overworked and severely underpaid. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, one medical officer (MO) said they were bogged down with work, going as far as describing the workload as "crazy". "I've never experienced an increase in allowances ever since I was a houseman in 2016.

Some 1.5 million jobs are expected to be created in Sarawak up to the year 2030, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

He said these jobs will be generated by the many programmes and plans of the state’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, of which one of its objectives is to increase the people’s income.

“Out of the total (1.5 million jobs), about 200,000 would be in the technical or skill sector. I have been told that Petros, as the third largest oil and gas company in the country, will need 20,000 technicians or skilled workers.