LIKE many Malaysians, I am deeply disappointed that Putrajaya has chosen to keep the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) on ice.

I believe that most informed Malaysians support the ratification of ICERD, as postulated by G25, and many public intellectuals and thought leaders.

As pointed out by G25 and many others, there is no conflict between the ratification of ICERD and our constitution. The NEP, or affirmative action policies, can still carry on if or when we hopefully ratify ICERD sometime soon. After all, there are reservations and provisions in the convention to protect our constitutional principles, governing our official religion, Islam, while preserving the position of all other religions, the special rights of Bumiputeras, as well as the special position of the esteemed Malay rulers and so on.

Problems of non-ratification

The problems of ratification stem from misunderstanding, misinformation and miscommunication, as follows:

a) Misunderstanding comes from the failure to appreciate that affirmative action can continue.

Hopefully, however, affirmative action policies to help the underprivileged and deprived, poverty-stricken groups in our society will not be based on race, but based on basic needs and income levels. That is where we have had to sadly bear the criticism of unfairness and racial discrimination in our country, which no one really wants. No religion or culture tolerates discrimination against the poor or based on race, as we all wish to promote equality for all of God’s children.

b) Misinformation arises from distortion of the truth about ICERD.

ICERD is not against our constitution. However some politicians, going on their own desperate survival instincts, have wrongly discredited the convention, which most nations, including most Muslim and Muslim-majority countries, have ratified. So, why indulge in the false purveyance of distorted information? This is forbidden by all religions and universal ethics! Is it for narrow political ends?

c) Miscommunication, unfortunately, has been spreading on social media, and even in public speeches, fora and conferences.

Here, I wish for police to take stronger action, using strict laws, to contain false and vicious communications, whether verbal or written. Some quarters have maligned ICERD as if it is a threat to our constitution and future, when actually, it is for our good.

The disadvantages of not ratifying ICERD

Critics of ICERD should ponder on the disadvantages of non-ratification. They are as follows:

a) The isolation of Malaysia at the United Nations, given that we are one of the very few countries that have not ratified ICERD.

b) With the non-ratification, we are in the same group as North Korea and other dubious countries. Surely we could be in better company, which forms the majority of the UN.

c) Malaysia, and Malaysians themselves, will be painted as discriminators with a broad brush, and this is not fair to the country and people.

d) The continued rejection of the ratification of ICERD could entrench the whole concept of protection, discrimination and non-competition, and make it a permanent feature of our national policies. This will debilitate us in the long term, unless we change from this course in a timely manner. We don’t want to be a sluggish “manja-manja” society, do we?

Conclusion

Considering the present circumstances, it may be right and proper at this time to defer the ratification of ICERD. This is only because of the unexpected and unjustified huge emotional wave against the ratification at this time.

Nevertheless, it is regrettable that we seem to be more regressive than progressive, and have succumbed to vociferous protests even if they are by minority voices.

I hope that more public debate and discussion will persuade our people that the whole world can’t be wrong, and that we, among the minority countries, will soon overcome our misunderstandings, misinformation and miscommunication. I hope we will all see the bigger, broader world picture that struggles against rather than promotes discrimination, which is intrinsically bad and self-destroying anywhere.

Let’s all together continue our struggle against discrimination and treat all Malaysians as equals.

Let’s remove the “ice” in ICERD, and focus on helping the poor, regardless of race and religion, in the interest of building greater national unity and a better Malaysia for all its citizens!

This is the challenge for the new Pakatan Harapan government, and we hope to support it in achieving the ratification of ICERD – as many believe that it is good for our country, and a brighter future! – November 27, 2018.

* Ramon Navaratnam is chairman of the Asli Centre of Public Policy Studies.

* 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.