(From ThinkLeft.Net)

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) welcomes the Federal Court’s decision to rule that Section 28 of the Selangor State Syariah Enactment on the offence of unnatural intercourse is contrary to the Federal Constitution. Section 28 was needlessly used as an oppressive tool by the state to criminalize the sexual orientation of the LGBT community in Malaysia.

PSM is encouraged by the Malaysian LGBT community and their struggle to attain their rights not to be discriminated just because of differences in sexuality and gender. The struggle of the LGBT community in Malaysia is a struggle that also ensures equal rights, justice, and freedom to all Malaysians, to everyone who lives in a country we call ‘merdeka’ or free.

The Federal Court decision has reminded all Malaysians, regardless of our background, to stop criminalization and end discrimination against the LGBT community. PSM would like to remind everyone that Malaysia is a constitutional country and a country made up of various people of different cultures, religions, sexuality and gender.

Any action or law should not discriminate or oppress anyone. Regardless of whether Syariah or Civil, the law must protect the rights to express their sexual orientation. The journey of the LGBT community in Malaysia for equal rights and acceptance is long, but PSM’s support for them is still strong, and we will stand with them in solidarity all the way.

Gender Bureau
Parti Sosialis Malaysia

(Statement in conjunction with International Women’s Day 2021)
by Chong Yee Shan

It’s been one year since Perikatan Nasional (PN) formed a government. Under their governance, we see many incompetent ministries failing to provide adequate policies and enforcement on many issues, especially gender. In conjunction with International Women’s Day, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) would like to suggest, Wait No More, Act Now! We have listed the following recommendations:

Enact Sexual Harassment Act

Given the rise in the community on the awareness of acknowledging the signs of sexual harassment either verbally, visually, physically or communicated in writing or electronically,  the current laws and policies that sets out to protect women and sexual minorities are not enough. Existing sexual harassment provision, such as in the Employment Act, is disappointingly enforced and fails to create a safer work environment for women and other minority groups. Therefore, it is crucial to have more gender-sensitive training for all authorities, stakeholders, and medical practitioners to ensure potent enforcement focus on the patriarchal system and its impact on both men and women. The awareness of the maintenance of power and privilege by the dominant group need to be highlighted so that there will be a collaboration of forces to dismantle the dysfunctional system of gender inequality. The Sexual Harassment Act is necessary to protect all genders and sexual minorities and hold the responsible parties accountable.

End Child Marriage

Research shows that child marriage is intimately connected to poverty and is most common in the world’s poorest countries. Although Malaysia is a developing country, child marriages’ presence reflects the lack of attention paid to the impact of low socio-economic status on social issues. Lack of sex education, awareness of children giving consent and perceived messages of one’s cultural system are some examples that perpetuate the issue of child marriages and firmly embedded in the disparity of socio-economic level. When financial resources are limited in a family, child marriages are seen as a way for daughters to be taken care of by another family. Evidence shows that girls who marry off young are more likely to be poor and remain low, especially when traditional gender roles expected to be maintained. Malaysia has ratified the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which meant to protect children and girls from child marriages; the government should develop policies in Malaysia to meet the guidelines of CEDAW and CRC.

Universal Basic Income (UBI)

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected many B40 women, especially single mothers, who are the sole providers in the family. The government’s lack of support is evident through the stories of many who are suffering from the loss of income. The PN government have been spending money on efforts to boost the economy. However, there is a lack of attention to significantly impacted economically. This issue can be addressed by government response to provide a modified Universal Basic Income (UBI) to anyone who does not currently have a source of income. This to ensure that everyone in this country is fed and all basic needs are met. Women and girls must be included in any decision-making process as well in all future economic policies. In the longer term, the government must ensure to drive a transformative change in addressing the care work, paid and unpaid. Furthermore, the government must target women and girls to address the socio-economic impact with a gender lens so that women can achieve greater equality and social protection. 

Human Rights of LGBTQI Persons

Discrimination, violation, and witch-hunts toward LGBTQI persons have become more severe in Malaysia. The government’s anti-LGBTQI position shows in politicians scapegoating LGBTQI persons, government appearing lax with conservative groups, anti-LGBT speech and acts, directly causing an increase in violation and hate speech towards LGBTQI persons. Past one year, the witch-hunting of the LGBTQI community from various actors and authorities have increased. The LGBTQI community are living in fear, and they are left in a very vulnerable situation. The government should lead by example, stop all form of hate speech and targeting LGBTQI persons, and necessary steps to protect anyone that threatens to harm LGBTQI person immediately.

For too long, women have been ignored, and those in power, mostly that controlled by men, refused to use a gender lens to see the issues. We hope women’s struggle for equality has triggered people’s realisation to build a movement towards greater gender equality and end gender stereotypes, sexism, and the patriarchal system. We must fight for the traditional gender roles to be erased from the state’s eye to society. This is not the 18th century for men to enjoy their patriarchal “privileges” anymore and time to share the same and shared parental and domestic responsibilities.

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Chong Yee Shan is a member of the Central Committee of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and PSM’s Gender Bureau coordinator.

1,086 shoes and slippers. Many raggedy, scuffed and torn.

Representing the 1,086 Myanmar persons wrested away
from the lives they’d made for themselves in Malaysia.

Challenger Malaysia, MISI: Solidariti, Pemuda Sosialis with support from various other NGOs stand in solidarity with the 1,086 Myanmar nationals that were deported back to Myanmar on the 23rd February 2021, and unequivocally condemn the actions of the Malaysian Immigration Department for doing so. The deportation took place despite a stay of execution of the deportation of the Myanmar nationals issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on the morning of the 23rd. Not only that, but the act itself violates the international legal principle of “non-refoulement”.

On this day, 5th March 2021 at Taman Jaya Park, several representatives from the organisations listed above laid out these 1,086 pairs of shoes to demonstrate just how many people — men, women, and even children amongst them as reported by Amnesty International Malaysia — the Malaysian government has potentially condemned, many of whom left Myanmar in search for a better life for themselves and their families.

All these lives cannot simply be reduced to a number, distant and disconnected from reality, so we must take a look at the space each of them would have occupied had they stood here in the flesh as living and breathing individuals. However, even this does not do justice to capturing and representing the humanity of these individuals; these shoes cannot illustrate who they are as people: their hopes, dreams and aspirations that all of us as individuals possess.

We also cannot forget that according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that there were asylum seekers in that group, fleeing violence and persecution from a government that seeks to ethnically cleanse Myanmar — a fact that the Immigration Department explicitly denied about when they said asylum seekers were not included in the 1,086 people deported. In spite of this, Malaysian authorities deported them anyway in what can only be described as an act of unbridled xenophobia.In the spirit of realizing human rights and dignity, we the organisations have a list of four demands:

• No cooperation with the Tamatdaw government
  • Myanmar’s current Tamatdaw government was installed undemocratically through use of brute force against the wishes of the Myanmar people, and maintains its power through authoritarian means that are often violent and lethal. Malaysia should not be seen to legitimise this government — be it through bilateral agreements or cooperation in any form — due to an implication of tacit approval of their governance.
• Unequivocal access to immigration detention centres granted to the United Nations
  High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR)
  • The government must allow UNHCR to access immigration detention centres, in order to ascertain those amongst the detained that are specifically vulnerable due to their status as a persecuted minority and grant them the protections that should be rightfully afforded to them under international human rights instruments.
• Moratorium on deportations, end indefinite and arbitrary detention of all migrants
  • Migrants must no longer be subject to raids, arrests, and detention purely by reason of their immigration status. These practices are inhumane, greatly infringe on the rights of migrants, rob them of their dignity as individuals,
    and subject them to terrible living conditions and even physical and/or verbal abuse, instances of which are well-documented by many human rights organisations in Malaysia.
  • Further to the above, we urge that the Malaysian courts initiate a judicial review against the government, Immigration Director-General Dzaimee Daud and the Home Affairs Ministry for their role in deportation in the coming hearing on 9 March 2021.
• Full transparency from the Immigration Department of Malaysia
  • The Immigration Department must make data regarding detentions public and accessible — including but not limited to the number of detainees, disaggregated by gender, age group, and nationality; refugee status; exact location where detainees are being held; duration of time detainees have been held; reasons for extension of detention etc.
  • We also demand an explanation from the Immigration Department regarding the grounds in which the deportation was carried out on 23 February despite the court order; why the remaining 114 Myanmar nationals were not deported, as well as their current status.

To reiterate, we the co-signed strongly condemn the deportation of the Myanmar nationals, and affirm that this crime against humanity — no less than that — cannot go unanswered. We may not be able to bring the 1,086 back, but we have to work to ensure that what happened never happens again.

#MigranJugaManusia

Co-signed by:
Challenger Malaysia
MISI: Solidariti
Pemuda Sosialis
Demokrat Kebangsaan
Suaram
North South Initiative
Parti Sosialis Malaysia
Refuge for the Refugees
Beyond Borders
Tenaganita
Liberasi
Al-Hasan Volunteer Network