The rot has set in

Our education system has deteriorated to pathetic levels. It is no longer seen as a means of  ennobling young minds and empowering future leaders of the country with the right knowledge and values to mould them into healthy, mature, thinking and discerning citizens. The school system has become so polarised that it no longer reflects the multi-cultural make-up of the country. It is so bad that Marina Mahathir in her column in The Star revealed that she had pulled  her children out from the national schools because they have become Malay schools.

More disappointments and worries

Our parliament has turned out to be such a disappointment. Our elected representatives no longer stand as tall as the building itself unlike previous parliamentarians who came imbued with parliamentary traditions and healthy respect for democracy and vibrant debates. They crossed swords in a dignified manner without anger or rancour. These days debates have become shouting matches, spiced up with sick jokes and shocking sexist remarks. Even if certain members were to speak the truth and act according to their conscience they are punished for crossing party lines as was the case with the two MIC MPs and Shahrir Samad, the chairman of the Back Benchers Club.

Do not fail yourself.
Do not fail the country.

Human rights are more a philosophical or moral concept than a legal one. The origins of today’s human rights ideology can be found in 17th Century liberalism. John Locke (1632-1704), among others, developed the idea of rights that precede the state and the guaranteeing of which is the basis of the state’s authority.

By human rights we mean the rights that belong to all humans equally. Thinking about human rights as rights belonging to all people is quite a recent development. Earlier the rights of an individual were determined by his birth or social status as in a class society. Today we consider as human rights mainly those rights that are protected by universal or regional human rights conventions. Human rights conventions are legally binding international treaties between states. In the conventions the states commit themselves to guaranteeing certain rights both to their own citizens and to other people residing in their territory.

The proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the 10th of December 1948 in the General Assembly of the United Nations can be seen as a turning point in the international protection of human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was prepared during the years 1947 and 1948 in the Commission on Human Rights appointed by the Economic and Social Council of the UN and then in the General Assembly. Even though the contribution of western countries was great in the preparation of the Declaration, it would be wrong to say that it represents only a western concept of human rights. The countries in Latin America, for example, were very active in formulating the Declaration and even as the UN was being founded, they produced their own drafts of the Declaration.

Human rights are often characterised as universal, inalienable and fundamental. The universality of human rights has two meanings. On the one hand, the universality of human rights prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, colour, social status or other similar characteristic. On the other hand, the universality of human rights refers to the global applicability of human rights. Human Rights are common to all people on all continents irrespective of cultural or economic differences.

The inalienability of human rights reflects the idea of natural individual rights that precede the state’s authority. Each individual has human rights on the basis of his/her humanity. Therefore these rights can no more be taken away from him/her by a decision of the authorities than by his/her own consent. The inalienability of human rights also means that a person can not legally give over his/her human rights by selling himself/herself as a slave.

The fact that human rights are considered as fundamental, means that only the most important rights should be called human rights. Articles 1 to 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contain a list of the rights and freedoms that were considered important enough in 1948. Later developments in human rights documents have slightly broadened this list, but not to a significant degree. Some parts of the Declaration protect such rights and freedoms that have since proved difficult when adopting binding intergovernmental conventions. A refugee’s right to seek and enjoy asylum, the right to a nationality and the protection of property are examples of such rights.

Human rights are about the freedom from something and the right to something. Human rights are about the obligation of the state to respect, protect and fulfil human rights towards its citizens.

Resources

We conduct human rights training with NGOs and Community Groups to raise awareness on human rights in Malaysia. Feel free to contact us if you would like to arrange a human rights training in your organisation or area.

Below are some materials that we use in our trainings:

• Hak Tanah Tanpa Geran
  
  
• Tema & Prinsip Hak Asasi
  
  
• Arrest and Investigation Chart (PDF)
• How To Deal With The Police? (PDF)
• Struktur Pangkat Polis (PDF)
• Kad Kuasa Polis (PDF)

Reference

• The Concept of Human Rights
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  

The amount does not include TV advertisements in which TI conceded were where the “lion’s share of election advertising monies are believed to go”.

However, the organisation will begin monitoring political parties’ expenses for TV election advertisements beginning today.

According to Ramon, the TI study was part of a regional project to promote transparency in political financing.

Over the 13-day campaigning period, TI is monitoring election advertisements in six English dailies, five Malay newspapers, four Chinese titles and three Tamil dailies.

Ramon said that TI’s estimated advertisement cost is based on normal advertisement rates quoted by the various publications surveyed.

If the cost of advertisements was to be divided proportionally among BN candidates, TI said that each parliamentary contestant would have spent RM2,220, while each state candidate, RM1,103 on print advertising alone.

Scrutinise candidates expenses, EC told

Ramon argued that this cost should be reflected in the candidates’ expenses where under the law a parliamentary candidate can spend only up to RM200,000 while a state candidate RM100,000, in election campaign expenditure.

This means that BN candidates have only RM197,780 (for parliament seat) and RM98,897 (state) left to spend for the remaining 10 days of the campaign period.

“TI urges all (political) parties to declare all their advertisement expenses and to require their candidates to report their respective share of such expenses,” said Ramon.

“TI also urges the Election Commission to closely scrutinise the candidates’ expenses report and be prepared to lodge police reports for any under-reporting found.”

According to TI, there was no election advertising by opposition parties - PAS, DAP and PKR - over the first three days of the electoral campaign in the 18 monitored newspapers.

“This is the first time that campaign expense monitoring is being monitored,” said Ramon, who is a former top civil servant.

“This is a new addition to election process monitoring and media content monitoring that had started from previous elections and is being performed in this election as well.”

It is high time for the people to reclaim our rights, our freedoms and our country in the coming general election.
1. Reject Racialised Politics and Racism

The kind of politics perpetuated by Barisan Nasional has divided the citizens rather than united the country. Human rights violations, abuses of powers, mismanagement of public funds and corruption in the government thrive under the protective umbrella of racialised politics. Anyone challenging cronyism, corruption and nepotism of the powers-that-be would be persecuted for inciting racial tensions and posing a threat to national security. Malaysian citizens, living under the fear of the Internal Security Act and the bogeyman of the May 13 tragedy, are silenced and stripped of their rights.

We call on all voters to reject candidates and political parties that resort to racial and religious extremism. We demand for the enactment of a Race Relations Act and a permanent Race Relations Commission to outlaw racism and incitement of racial hatred.

2. Repeal All Emergency Laws and Laws that permit Detention without Trial

Despite the fact that Malaysians have lived in peace without war or conflict in the last three decades, the emergency laws and anti-subversion laws previously proclaimed by the government, which vest enormous emergency powers in the hands of the state and suspend civil and political rights of the people, remain in force to this date. These laws have been rampantly abused by the ruling parties.

We call for the four proclamations of emergency in 1964, 1966, 1969 and 1977 to be revoked officially by the coming parliament. We demand that all emergency and anti-subversion laws and measures, especially the Internal Security Act 1960 and the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 and the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985 which provide for indefinite detention without trial, be repealed immediately. We demand that immediate release of all those detained under the emergency laws be charged in court or be released immediately.

3. Respect and Protect Freedom of Expression, Assembly and Association

Freedom of expression, assembly and association are fundamental rights for citizens to participate in policy decision making. However, these rights have been continuously curtailed with the justification of national security when in realty it is no more than suppressing the citizens from raising legitimate concerns such as corruption, abuses of powers and the failures of the government policies.

We call for the abolition of the Sedition Act and the enactment of a Whistle-Blower Protection legislation to protect freedom of expression. The right to freedom of assembly and association should be allowed to be exercised without hindrance while all authorities’ decisions should be subjected to judicial scrutiny. We call for the abolition of Section 27 of the Police Act that subject public assemblies to the approval of the police.

4. Form the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission

The rising crime rates in the country in recent years have indicated that the Royal Malaysian Police has failed in its duty. To make matters worse, the police force today has reduced itself to become a tool of coercion and violence for the powers-that-be to remain in power. The rights of the Malaysian citizens are trampled. A professional police force that is effective in fighting crimes, respects human rights while enforcing the laws, politically impartial in carrying out their duties and free from corruption can only be achieved with an independent oversight mechanism with adequate powers.

We demand for the implementation of the 125 recommendations made by the Royal Commission on police reform, especially the formation of the Independent Police Complaint and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

5. Stamp out Corruption

Corruption has been widespread in the government and unchallenged under the protection of the powerful ruling elites. Mega projects are awarded to individuals and companies who are politically well connected. In the process, project costs have multiplied to exorbitant levels and have led to huge unnecessary social costs at the expense of public monies. Tax payers are made to pay double for the corruption and the rising costs of living as a result of the former.

We demand that all ministers and public servants declare publicly their personal wealth before taking office. All ministers and public servants who live beyond their means should be investigated and prosecuted for corruption. We call on the Anti-Corruption Agency to be made independent from the Prime Minister’s office and to report to the Parliament solely.

6. Uphold the Independence of the Judiciary

The recent Lingam tape scandal has confirmed the widespread public perception that our judiciary is highly corrupt and partial to the powers-that-be, especially after the 1988 judicial crisis. It has failed to defend the rights of the people and deliver justice to the victims of the rich and the powerful.

We demand judicial independence to be restored immediately by rescinding the constitutional amendment of Article 121(1) that undermines the separation of powers in a functioning democracy and the formation of an independent judicial commission in appointing and promoting judges.

7. End the New Economic Policy

The New Economic Policy (NEP) has deviated from its original objectives and has become a tool for a small group of ruling elites of different ethnic communities to accumulate enormous wealth. The majority of the Malays has hardly benefited from the policy while the poor non-Malays are deprived of social assistance. The NEP is a divisive policy that perpetuates racial discrimination. It also compromises meritocracy and undermines our country’s competitiveness in the globalised world.

We demand that the NEP be abolished immediately and be replaced with an affirmative action policy that is based on individual needs and merits regardless of race or religion.

8. Reform the Electoral System

The Malaysian electoral system is deeply flawed and is not able to reflect the true popular will of the people. It has deviated from the ‘one person one vote’ principle with large disparities of the number of voters from one constituency to another. The electoral roll is rigged and postal votes are often deployed by ruling parties to rob victory in crucial areas. The voters are deprived of the right to information and the right to make informed decisions with the opposition having no access to mainstream media. The Election Commission is partial to the ruling parties.

We demand the reform of the electoral system by setting up a royal commission on electoral reforms with the aims to restore the ‘one person one vote’ principle, clean up the electoral roll, abolish postal votes and ensure equal access to the media by all parties. Local government election must be restored. Appointment of members of the Election Commission must be done in a transparent and accountable manner with public consultation.

9. Uphold Press Freedom

Press freedom in Malaysia has been severely curtailed by the restrictive laws such as the Printing Presses and Publication Act that requires annual license renewal of newspapers and magazines. The situation is made worse with the ownership of mainstream media and the abuse of state media such as RTM by the ruling parties. This seriously undermines the right to information and the right to make informed decision of the citizen to check the abuse of powers and corruption in the gove