The Malaysian Insider

JAN 21 — Recent controversies have prompted many Malaysians to reflect on the fissures and connections between ethnic and religious communities in Malaysia.

There are groups in our society who feel angry about the use of a Name they hold sacred, the uniqueness of which they hold core to their beliefs. There are others who point out that people of other faiths have used this Name for centuries. The plurality of voices on the same issue reveal not only the diverse positions Malaysians can take, but also how we have learnt to interact with each other — whether we resolve conflict or let it escalate, embrace difference or revile it, share generously or hold back cautiously.

NOV 20 — Children embody our hopes. We seek for them brighter futures than we visualise for ourselves. Mothers and fathers are willing to sacrifice their own needs for those of their children. Only the most cold-hearted among us can witness a child suffering and feel no pain.

Fifty years ago, on Nov 20, 1959, the United Nations General Assembly (Unga) – the forum where all states sit as equals – adopted the Declaration on the Rights of the Child. Affirming their faith in fundamental human rights, and in the dignity and worth of the human person, they set out, in principle, the rights of children so that all children could “have a happy childhood” and enjoy rights and freedoms.

OCT 18 – Her eyes are empty as she stares into the distance. She balances a child on her body, wrapped in a sarong. His eyes are lively, piercing, looking directly at us. He leans forward, engaging with us, while all she wants to do, it seems, is disappear. She looks numb – tired of pain, fear, insecurity – it is clear she does not want to be here.

Next to her is a woman with glistening eyes. She looks worried, harried, preoccupied. Her child lies behind her on a makeshift bed, sick with malaria. They live in a basic wooden hut, afraid of the police, unable to afford medical care.

At least she still has her child. Next to her is the portrait of another woman in a jungle camp, whose desperate features tell us of the deep wounds in her soul. We are told that she was catatonic and traumatized when she first arrived. She lost her entire family while fleeing from Burma to Malaysia – she lost her children while crossing a river.

JUNE 20 — My first encounter with a refugee who sought safety in Malaysia occurred quite unexpectedly. I was 19 years old in my first week of university in the United Kingdom. An Asian-looking girl in my halls of residence sought me out, wanted to meet a ‘Malaysian’. I was curious.

In her strong American accent, she started telling me an extraordinary story. She told me of how she fled Vietnam with her family on a crowded, rickety boat. She was four years old.

She remembered being afraid of pirates and people hiding gold in their teeth. She remembered being worried that their boat would sink or that they would run out of food, and how relieved everybody was when they finally landed.

APRIL 24 — Last Sunday, a newspaper in Bangladesh reported on the case of 30-year-old Ikhtiar Uddin, a Bangladeshi migrant worker who died while being held in detention in Lenggeng detention centre after being punished, beaten, and tortured “severely” by Malaysian authorities.

On Wednesday, the New Straits Times reported that a 25-year old Liberian was found dead in detention, also in Leggeng detention centre. We don’t know his name, or the cause of his death.