Mid-week thoughts - on Intrusion of privacy

Raja Aziz Addruse, lawyer and Human Rights campaigner, was quoted in a report in the New Straits Times yesterday as having said that
“given the multi-religious and multi-ethnic composition of Malaysian society, any attempt to regulate a person's conscience, faith or private life had grave implications for all citizens and communities, as well as the relationships between communities.”

We all know this and we are aware too of the instances, especially in the last few months, when the privacy of some of our fellow Malaysians was intruded. But what did we do about it? We (yours truly included) made a lot of “noises” - in conversations, e-mails, blogs, etc. Then after couple of days or so, it was all silent.

So, it was refreshing, after all the inertia on the part of most us, to read in the abovementioned NST report that “more than 40 non-governmental organizations and about 190 individuals today endorsed a move against the policing of morality.”

This group of people, who held a press conference at a hotel in Klang Road, called for a “repeal of provisions in laws that deny citizens their fundamental rights to privacy, freedom of speech and expression, and which overlap the Federal Penal Code. They also wanted “a committee to be appointed to monitor the process of repealing such laws, with representation from women's groups, human rights groups, civil society organisations, progressive religious scholars and constitutional experts.”

This proactive move should be lauded and supported by all of us. We have a stake in such action. To what extend the NGOs and friends will succeed, is anybody guess. But it is certainly much better than the oft-seen response of only complaining, cursing, whining and the like.