The
Malaysian government has always been a vocal voice in international arena,
slamming foreign governments for their failures in championing human rights.
Malaysia has also stood tall amongst its other “peers” in advocating for a
non-aligned, peaceful and moderate world for all.
Malaysia
has had its firm stand against the encroachment of the Palestinian territory by
the Israeli forces, the United States’ military intervention in Afghanistan and
Iraq, under the premise of “War on Terror” and even against the Apartheid
regime of South Africa prior to the blacks’ disenfranchisement in 1994. Why,
the articulate former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad even
initiated an international tribunal to prosecute Tony Blair and George Bush Jr.
for war crimes.
This is Malaysia; the land of liberty
and equality.
But,
then again, a bigger question arises, is everything in Malaysia as rosy as
said?
11. The ultimate doctrine of the nation, the Federal
Constitution upholds the rights of individuals in freedom of religion as
enshrined in Part II, Article 11. However, in reality, this freedom of religion
in Malaysia can end up being a contentious issue. One major factor for such arguments is the
recent Court of Appeal’s judgement, prohibiting the usage of the term “Allah”
by a weekly called The Herald Catholics. Such judgement has created rift
between the Muslims and non-Muslims communities in Malaysia, with many public
figures claiming exclusiveness of such term, only for the faithful of Islam.
However, the recent press statement of the Honourable Prime Minister,
indicating that non-Muslims can continue to use the term and the judgement
shall be confined only to The Herald, has created confusion over this
contradicting situations.
22. As a further matter, Hindu temples demolition in Malaysia
has caused disappointment within the Hindu community of Malaysia. To elaborate,
many Hindu temples were built in Malaysia and as the famous Emeritus Professor
Khoo Kay Kim puts it, there are more than 16,000 Hindu temples in this country.
However, many of these religious buildings were built in rubber estates and
even before independence. In the long-run, many of these temples are not
registered with the government and are deemed illegal. With more and more
developments taking centre stage in Malaysia now, many of these temples fall in
the intended development zone and later on, face demolition threats from the
developers. The recent incident at the Muniswarar Kaliyaman temple in P.Ramlee
Street, Kuala Lumpur where part of the temple structure was demolished by the
Kuala Lumpur City Council, was seen as infringement of freedom of religion.
Even the Federal Territories Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan has defended the
act, saying the demolition is valid and is done legally as ordered by the court.
But, he has failed to produce a copy of the order.
However, earlier prior to the demolition, a court has
declared that any attempt of demolition of the Muniswarar temple would be
considered void and illegal. And a copy of this judgement has been produced by R.
Sivarasa, the MP for Subang. This clearly contradicts with the statement given
by the Minister and shows that, the act of demolition by Kuala Lumpur City
Council is illegal and against the law.
Not only that, the way of the temple structure was
demolished was considered inconsiderate and rude by the masses. This is due to
the council workers entering the temple vicinity, wearing boots and the statues
were removed not by the priests but by the Muslim council workers. This also
contradicts Hinduism’s practice as any deity statues removal needs to be done
accordingly through a ritual. Below is a picture of city council workers in the temple compound wearing boots-
Religious buildings should be respected by everyone, even
if it means the authorities. Any rude intrusion as shown by the council workers
should be condemned and those responsible should be made to apologise. However,
sadly up to this very moment, no actions have been taken, just like what
happened to the rest of the temples that were demolished.
33. Freedom of religion does not only limit to different
religions but also to different denominations within a religion. In Malaysia,
faithful of Islam constitutes the majority population amongst the 28.5 million
citizens of Malaysia. Almost all Muslims in Malaysia are called the Sunni
Muslims. Yet, there are other denominations such as Shia (a group of Muslims
who consider Saidina Ali bin Abu Talib as the last prophet contrary to the
belief of Sunni Muslims, where Prophet Muhammad is considered as the last
prophet of Islam). Social activists and several politicians have advocated
against the persecution of Shia Muslims in Malaysia.
Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Dato' Seri Jamil
Khir bin Baharom who is in charge of Islamic affairs, has previously said that
Shia Muslims can continue to practise their belief in Malaysia without any
persecution from the government, provided that the teachings of this sect are
not spread. However, this clearly contradicts with a 1996 edict by the National
Fatwa Council which ruled that Shia is a deviant sect and banned its practice.
Not only that, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim, the secretary-general of the Home
Ministry announced the growth of the minority Shia population, along with
government plans to root out the
movement.
The government’s stand in this issue remains ambiguous
and confusing. However, taking into consideration the need to honour the right
of an individual to practice his or her belief, persecution of the Shia
movement should be brought to a rigid full stop. For this, roundtable
discussions between the representative of the Sunni and Shia Muslims should be
organised to attain a win-win situation. The government needs to understand
that forcing an individual to accept a belief that he or she does not subscribe
will prove to be futile.
44. Malaysia’s treatment of the registered asylum seekers or
refugees from countries in the midst of conflict has also been debated for
quite some time. The Malaysian Government is yet to ratify the 1951 Refugee
Convention or its 1967 Protocol under United Nations and has taken less effort
to provide welfare to these people seeking refuge. According to official
report, there are around 115,819 refugees in Malaysia registered under the
United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). And the vast majority
of them are from Myanmar, which has suffered from decades of brutal military
administration.
Although these registered asylum seekers are protected
from the tensions in their homeland, they are prohibited from working or
getting education in Malaysia. Currently, many refugees are sustaining their
lives in Malaysia by doing odd jobs. Children of the refugees have been denied
the right for education, limiting them only for informal education.
Asylum seekers are different than illegal foreign
immigrants as they are here to seek life protection and not to exploit our
economic opportunity. They are allowed to enter Malaysia’s in the interest of
humanity. The Malaysian Government needs to ratify the Refugee Convention and
establish a proper framework to provide a good protection for the refugees.
Once they are registered under UNHCR, they ought to be allowed to enter the
workforce and to receive education.
55. Other than that, the government’s inaction against its
own politicians and affiliates who produce seditious statements, have showcased
the government’s biasness. Anti-race statements made by former Chief Minister
of Melaka, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, current Menteri Besar of Kedah, Dato’
Mukhriz Mahathir and the President of PERKASA (a Malay supremacist group),
Dato’ Ibrahim Ali who threatened the Holy Bible, fell on deaf ears and were
never taken any actions upon. Why, even the current Urban Wellbeing, Housing
and Local Government Minister, Dato’ Abdul Rahman Dahlan has defended Ibrahim
Ali’s despicable statement!
Contrary to this, many leaders in the opposition pact,
Pakatan Rakyat has been brought to justice for their so-called “seditious
statements”. These include Batu Member of Parliament, Tian Chua, PAS member
Shafor and activists Hariz Fathillah Mohamed Ibrahim, Safwan Anang and
Hishamuddin Rais. It is not my intention to defend these Pakatan Rakyat
representatives but, if these people can be prosecuted for their statements,
BN’s politicians who uttered anti-racial statement should also be brought to court.
The Sedition Act is not to be used for political expediency, but for national
harmony.
66. Malaysia’s affirmative action which favours the
Bumiputera group can also be seen as a threat to human rights. Each and every
citizens of Malaysia is entitled to equal rights in a country, regardless of
his or her skin complexion or ethnicity. For me, the affirmative action
practised by the Barisan Nasional Government in the past four decades has left
the elites to reap the most benefits. This is evident through the stark
disparity between the rich and the poor within the Bumiputera group. The
intra-race Gini coefficient study in 2009 has proved that Gini coefficient for
the Bumiputera group is 0.44 and is higher compared to the Chinese and Indian
communities.
To the uninitiated, the Gini index ranges from 0 till 1.
The closer the index is to 1, the higher the income disparity between the rich
and the poor. This particular coefficient has clearly indicated that the
Bumiputera group in Malaysia is plagued by the “rich get richer, poor get
poorer” syndrome despite the so-called “success” of the New Economic Policy.
What Malaysia needs now is an Equal Rights Commission
which was advocated by the National Economic Actions Council (NEAC). Malaysians
should be left to stand on an equal and just economy for the betterment of the
nation.
However, whenever talks regarding equal rights and
affirmative action arise, these are blocked by political interference. In 2008,
when the Bar Council has suggested for a national forum on social contract, the
then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Badawi has objected the need for such a forum
or discussion. This was again reiterated by a royal statement from the
Conference of Rulers.
Should Malaysia aspire to be one of the respected
developed countries internationally, all Malaysians should be seen equal and any
political or economic marginalisation should be ultimately eradicated.
77. In 2013, Malaysia continued its downward slide in the
Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)’s press freedom index – dropping to 145th
position out of 179 countries – Malaysia’s lowest ranking ever yet. In 2007, Malaysia
was placed at 124th. Even worse, in 2011, Malaysia was listed under
the “Countries under Surveillance” list for its suppression of Internet freedom
amongst the Malaysian citizens. This clearly indicates the limitations of
freedom of information in Malaysia. Mainstream mass media has for long been
seen as pro-ruling government and partisan.
This has to change, as soon as possible. A mature and
intellectual Malaysian community can only be realised if free and neutral
information is allowed to “roam” in Malaysia’s atmosphere.
88.Detention without trial is an example of infringement of
human liberty. As the conventional wisdom goes, “a man is innocent until he is
proven otherwise”. Malaysia gained international plaudits when the Prime
Minister announced the abolishment of the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA)
which was passed in 1960, with the intention only to prosecute the communists,
back in the old days.
However, the plaudits have now gone to waste with the
amendment to the Crime Prevention Act 1959 being passed by the Parliament. This
amendment allows for detention without trial up to two years, exactly like ISA.
The public realises that the organised crime rate in Malaysia has increased in
recent years, especially after the abolishment of the Emergency Ordinance (EO)
and ISA in 2011. But, this doesn’t necessarily means that the re-introduction
of the detention without trial is justified.
Supposedly, the police force should be able to reinforce
their intelligence expertise and enforcement strength, rather than just to nab
individuals and lock them up. The Royal Malaysian Police force needs a major
overhaul in dealing with such organised crimes and again, detention without
trial shall never be the answer.
Conclusion
The
Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for was done on Oct
24, four years after the first in 2009. United Nations member countries urged
Malaysia to abolish capital punishment, repeal oppressive laws, and respect the
rights of Orang Asli and individual religious practices.
Malaysia
is in a serious need to ratify the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination as racial problems are still on-going despite the
multi-racial community living together for more than half a century. Besides, Human
Rights Commission of Malaysia or SUHAKAM’s annual reports need to be debated in
Parliament to scrutinise the human rights’ plaguing problem in Malaysia. It is
troubling that despite its establishment in 1999 and SUHAKAM’s success in
sending its annual reports to the Parliament, they were never debated. The time
has come for the government to pay heed to the recommendations of the SUHAKAM
reports for a better administration that upholds human liberty.
P/S:
It’s never too late for anything, but political will matters!
