THE previous Barisan Nasional government hardly engaged the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, which made the commission’s work difficult, said its chairman Razali Ismail.

“Hardly any minister was willing to talk (to us) and in Malaysia, everything comes from the top.

“It was so difficult. How can you represent the (people’s) aspirations and the need to improve when you can’t even see us?” he said to reporters at Suhakam’s Human Rights Day celebration in Petaling Jaya today.

He also said Suhakam was used as an “ornament” by the previous goverment to show the world that the country had a commission for human rights.

“They used us only as an ornament to tell the world that yes, we have a human rights commission… only when it was necessary for them to do so. Genuinely, they were not committed,” he said.

On the Pakatan Harapan government, Razali said PH was doing its part to elevate conditions nationwide.’

Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph said the PH government was also showing its willingness to work with the commission.

He said Suhakam had met with the attorney-general and eight ministers within six months of PH’s takeover of Putrajaya.

“The commission met eight ministers and the attorney-general in the first six months. We are meeting another minister next week.

“That’s a record of their openness and willingness to work with us in just six months,” he said. – December 9, 2018.