YESTERDAY, Putrajaya, in an official statement, said that it will not proceed with the plan to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) after intense resistance from Malay rights groups and individuals, as well as political leaders and parties who warned that ratifying ICERD was a threat to Malaysia’s affirmative action policies.
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“The government will continue to defend the Federal Constitution, which includes the social contract agreed upon by representatives of all races during the founding of this nation,” read the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The U-turn by Putrajaya is upsetting, particularly for human rights groups, as we move closer international human rights day on December 10. Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will make an appearance at a human rights festival organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) on December 8 in Padang Timor, Petaling Jaya. This is the first time that a human rights festival will take place on a large scale with the prime minister set to attend.
The various issues that have taken place since the historic May 9 general election has taught us some lessons. For the past 61 years, we have hardly had any strong domestic resistance as such on government’s policies related to human rights. We have only ratified three international human rights treaties – on women, children and persons with disabilities – despite pressure from human rights groups, be it local or international, to the government to ratify the remaining six human rights treaties. The sudden decision not to proceed with the ICERD ratification has revealed the weaknesses in the government of the day.
First, there has been significant lack of appropriate or effective communication channel from the government to the people on human rights issues. Take the ICERD for instance; after the announcement by the Foreign Ministry on Malaysia’s commitment to signing and ratifying the remaining six international human rights treaties out of a total of nine in the United Nations (UN), there has been little information on educating people about what these human rights treaties are, how it works and its impact on the people.
The complexity of the multiracial and multireligious environment we live in here in Malaysia is not new, and knowing such issues have the potential to transform into a racial or religious issue, I expected the government to have predicted such resistance from Day 1 of taking over Putrajaya.
I applaud the commitment of the Pakatan Harapan government on its commitment and desire to be a part of all international human rights treaties. However, it is unfortunate that the government has miscalculated the reaction it received. Resistance towards ICERD ratification has been based mainly on misperception and lack of knowledge on the impact and role of these treaties, and the government failed to counter such misinformation. This leads to the second issue, in which it invites speculations of the political will and readiness of the government in the arena of human rights protection.
Third, even after six months, the government has not realised that generally, Malaysians are not exposed to any formal form of human rights education. While the support of the people for PH has managed to lead the alliance to govern the country, there have been many instances that show the serious gap of people’s understanding on what human rights are in practice and in reality. The human rights discourse has undoubtedly increased but instances, such as the resistance to ICERD and abolition of the death penalty, were clear examples that the government has not changed the approach to communicating with the people at large. What is needed is for the government is to unite themselves by using the right language to gain the people’s support in terms of human rights commitments.
The lack of penetration of human rights language into the masses is something that the government needs to put more effort on. Apart from education and public awareness, efforts to popularise human rights language into their daily communication to the people and into government policies might help foster more understanding on what human rights are. In conjunction with this international human rights day, I fervently hope that the government will be able to change the narrative of our strong embedded system that is based on communalism to rights language that could foster a system based on indivisibility and inclusivity. – November 24, 2018.
* Khoo Ying Hooi is a university lecturer and reads The Malaysian Insight.
* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.
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Comments
Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply
Mahathir is a well known ultra-racist. He may by now have mellowed but had not changed. Look at how he forced the resignation of the entire board of Khazanah for downplaying the "Malay Agenda" to concentrate on making vast profits for the country. IMO, they exceed expectations. Note that China and Norway sovereign wealth funds are NOT allowed to invest locally to prevent conflict of interest.
I was pleasantly surprised and perplexed that he was conciliatory to signing ICERD especially two of the ministers from PMO are pro-ICERD, He would NOT have done anything to harm the Malays and it is my believe he thought signing ICERD would be advantageous to the Malays and nation.
But what I fault him is he was NOT forthright in giving out more details and allow the racists from the opposition to hijack and turned it into a racial discord to score political points.
It is not coincidental the ex-MITI minister was recruited without objections. The PH government need him for his experience and knowledge on foreign trade and relations. Here is where my suspicions lie ..
Posted 7 years ago by Malaysian First · Reply
The prices of our primary commodities are unreliable and at multi-year lows; oil is at USD 60 now when our budget was based on USD 70 and projected to get lower. This will blow a hole at our budget and receiving a one off RM 30 billion dividend from Petronas will jeopardize its future CAPEX. Thus, instead of reducing our ringgit one trillion debt, it will increase further. Moreover slower growth for the world economy is expected next year.
To sustain our development we desperately need manufacturing and high tech FDI and local investments. However, they are mindful of the "screwing" (through discrimination) from the administration of Mahathir 1.0. Even Malaysian investments prefer to expand overseas than enlarge their local operations. These investors see signing ICERD and other related treaties as a protective cover for their investments. At least they have recourse to the UN in any disputes otherwise they are at the mercies of the host nation.
I vaguely recalied the ex-MITI minister said we had to change our laws and regulations while he negotiated TPPA. It still stands, I believe. Did he refer to ICERD and others?
... to be continued ...
Posted 7 years ago by Malaysian First · Reply
What will happen to Malaysia if FDI boycott us and instead invest in countries that are signatories of ICERD and others of which there are aplenty? Even in Asean itself. We will be on the road to becoming another Zimbabwe.
Will people like Rafizah who are in retirement go on roadshows to explain the real situation? It is too much to expect other politicians in PH to do so. Many are selfish and more interested in their personal political careers and reelection than the fate of the country, They prefer to ride on current populism.
Tun had said that there are racists in PH that on the night of GE14, even though PH had won, prefer to cross over to form a government with UMNO-PAS. These traitors are still in PH, maybe even in the cabinet. So expect NO help from them.
But then, how to explain to the lowly educated rural folks about FDI, economy, budgets, etc? They are more interested on race and religion and subjected to years of racist indoctrination.
A hard task, I believe ....
Posted 7 years ago by Malaysian First · Reply