We are on track ... mostly

One of Malaysia’s most ardent and passionate human rights activists weighs in on the going so far.

ON the morning of 10 May, around 4am, a women’s rights activist turned to me and said “Ivy, Gender Equality Act! Stalking!”

I burst back with “Sexual Harassment Act! IPMC!”

We collapsed with laughter, drunk with joy and fatigue as the realisation sank in - that Malaysian voters had pulled off a popular revolt through the ballot box.

Having lobbied for the past 30 years for law and policy reform on women’s rights - with some important wins like the Domestic Violence Act 1994, Equal Guardianship and a constitutional guarantee on gender equality - we know there is still a lot more to be done to achieve gender equality.

Women’s groups have been told for the past 15 years or so “we will look into this ” by the former ruling government, so, that morning of May 10, we were giddy with expectation that at long last, civil society memorandums may see fruition.

Yet, while we were still basking in our democratic victory, on June 23, 2018, human rights lawyer Siti Kasim was arrested for allegedly “kidnapping” her 24- year-old client, who was fleeing from alleged domestic violence (for the record, the lawyer was giving her client shelter in her own home).

Then on June 29, 2018, news broke out that a 41-year-old man married an 11-year-old child, making her his third wife.

On July 10, 2018, another human rights lawyer, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, was called in to be investigated under the Sedition Act for expressing an opinion about the role of the monarchy.

Civil society and members of the public exploded! How can this happen in #NewMalaysia, we asked? When is Promise 20 in the PH’s election manifesto to establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) going to be fulfilled? When will Commitment 4 to raise the age of marriage to 18 years be fixed? When will Promise 27 to revoke the Sedition Act and other oppressive laws be delivered?

Following the debate on the child marriage issue, we witnessed a pattern that was similar to the old regime. But there were also new patterns emerging, which in my view, are promising, and convince me that we are on track.

First, is the heightened public awareness of what the Pakatan Harapan government stood for because during the campaign trail, it widely publicised its manifesto. We can now easily refer to what has been promised by PH. You cannot ignore Commitment 4 : Ensuring the legal system protects women’s rights and dignity which reads “Introduce a law that sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage”. Other commitments include: Establish a Family Law Improvement Committee, with the aim of amending the law on divorce, maintenance and child custody, to ensure a more efficient and fairer solution to women.

Review all laws relating to gender equality to ensure that every woman enjoys legal equality.

Introduce the Sexual Harassment Bill to stop sexual harassment at all levels.

We have it in writing and have been assured that women and girls will be given special attention; after all we are half of Malaysia but have more than our share of discrimination.

But the child marriage debate exposed lot of unhappiness, frustration and impatience at the Pakatan government and its leaders on what appeared to be hesitation. Statements like there is nothing we can do as it is legal in Syariah law, sent a disturbing message to the public and activists alike. A bad law may be legal but is this law right?

For child marriage to be forever banned in Malaysia, we must put into place reform in civil, customary and Syariah laws. We expect our new ministers to show courage as they have done so brilliantly before as lawyers, activists and opposition members and lead the way in changing mindsets. We expect our ministers NOT to tip-toe around religion and culture especially if religion and culture discriminate.

I do believe the majority of Malaysians will be cheering them on.

But even as ministers initially made cautious statements about child marriage many Pakatan MPs,, other ministers and even party branches, made their opposition to child marriage public, some even pushing for the amendment to be tabled in the first parliament session. And so there is now a concrete assurance that child marriage will be banned.

There appears to be a new culture developing, an independent thinking, something I hardly saw during Barisan Nasional’s tenure . The “practice” then was one usually waited for the minister to take the lead, and when someone did dare express a contrary opinion, that person would become isolated.

Sadly, unlike the opposition MPs from the past, today’s Opposition a.k.a. BN MPs have not added their voices to oppose child marriage except for the MCA and one lone voice from Umno.

After 30 years of advocacy work, I am witnessing new stakeholders and not the usual suspects of my activist colleagues. The spontaneous advocacy from new quarters indicates too that Malaysians have claimed the right to expression and do not fear repercussions. Surely it was a special moment when the Girl Guides Association took a stand against child marriage! So too the Parent Action Group for Education’s call for a ban and the fast growing campaign , “Pelajar Bukan Pengantin” or “Student Not Spouse”.

This is what is key in New Malaysia: ordinary Malaysians realising that nothing is so precious that we cannot confront them, even so-called sensitive issues. . We have the power to take the lead to decide whom and what we want in parliament.

In these first 100 days, we are encouraged to see the new government putting people in charge of key institutions based on merit and we are enjoying a freer press. But we must never let down our guard, nor lose sight of what we wanted when we voted on May 9, 2018, because as Pearl S. Buck wisely observed, “When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail”.