On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the link below.
Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."
That act is about one year younger than me but it appears that Malaysians are not protected by all the provisions of the UNDHR.
We are being hypocrites when we try and get the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi free from house arrest when here in Malaysia some citizens are denied the freedom to practise the religion of their choice.
You can read the UDHR here but Article 18 is particularly relevant:
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
It seems that some Malaysians are still being denied their basic human rights even in our 50th year of nationhood.
Let us hope and pray that God will give us the courage and the wisdom to elect MPs who will amend the laws so that all Malaysians will be able to practise their religions freely and not be subject to religious bigotry.
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4 comments:
Unfortunately, there are a bunch of people in Malaysia who will tell you that the UNDHR is irrelevant to their religious beliefs.
It is a sad day for 50 yr old Malaysia.
"We are being hypocrites..."?? Yes, our government is a biggest hyprocrite, most thick-skinned & unashamed authority in this world. Pak Lah said "cakap tak serupa bikin" while he himself is a typical example. Why not free all the ISA detainees-without-trial? Why no open tenders for sizable projects? Why restrict religious freedom? Why practise racist policies (Not much better than the former White South African goverment)? Any real press freedom? Any genuine & fair elections? ..... & list goes on endless.
There should be a annual human right report on Malaysia.
Forget about US human right reports where USA will only whack those countries that are threats to USA's self interest.
Malaysia is still a Flawed Democracy country. By looking at the opinions of most of Malaysians, they want to establish a Full Democracy country in the future. Since it is the case, Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a very important matter to every Malaysian, and even for Malaysia government. Especially, Malaysian government and immigration officers should accept the World Passport issued by the World Government of World Service Authority as the World Government was established based on the UN's UDHR. I'm sure supporting World Passport, World Political Asylum card and World ID holders, and giving jobs to them in Malaysia will make a difference, and it will make sure that everyone can enjoy the country. Then can we say, "Malaysian Government's interest is becoming a Full Democracy country."
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