Happy (?) New Year - here's the rundown
We're back from our break and here's a quick roundup of events so far.
It’s not been great.
Let’s do a quick speedrun through what’s happened.
In December:
A deadly landslide in Batang Kali trapped 92 people and killed 31. As of yesterday, a special report on the disaster was still being prepared. After the tragedy, furore arose regarding campsite licensing and whether or not these licenses were a requirement or even existed.
This event speaks to a larger, more institutional flaw: what are our environmental protections and safeguards? Malaysia has long been laissez-faire about the development of hillslopes and addressing soil erosion. Environmental impact assessments and disaster risk mitigation are both state obligations — deaths stemming from a manmade disaster can amount to a human rights violation if the state has failed to take preventive or mitigating measures.
Another example of this was seen in the late December floods which forced at about 72,000 to evacuate their homes.
The Immigration Department carried out a raid in Dengkil and arrested 48 migrant workers for ‘offenses’ such as overstaying or lacking proper documentation. They’re currently at the Lenggeng Immigration Depot.
Over 80 migrant workers who had not been given their due wages and overtime went on strike.
January:
We started with a big yikes as our new PM, Anwar Ibrahim, said secularism, LGBT and communism would never be recognised by his government. “Sometimes these politicians will say that if Anwar becomes prime minister then Islam will be ruined, secularism and communism will gain a foothold, and LGBT will be recognised. This is a delusion. Of course, it will not happen and God willing under my administration this is not going to happen.” Not cool.
The government confirmed that a Pakistani journalist named Syed Fawad Ali Shah was deported in August. According to his wife, he holds refugee status. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution clarified that the decision had not been executed by the current administration.
A 16-year-old rape survivor was raped again by a police officer when she went to file a report. The police officer, Mohd Maliki Azmi, was subsequently charged with rape and sexual assault and released on bail.
The Court of Appeal reversed a High Court decision that a woman was “not a person professing the religion of Islam”. Referred to only as ‘D’, the 37-year-old woman was born to a Hindu Malaysian-Indian father and an ethnic Chinese mother who was Buddhist but later converted to Islam.
D has said that her father (who died in 1996) never consented to her conversion (at age four), she practiced Hinduism, and she had never pronounced the Shahada. The facts of the case are quite interesting legally and pretty detailed so I’d recommend reading Ida Lim’s breakdown here. From a human rights perspective it’s a cause for concern that lā ’ikrāha fi d-dīn is being taken so lightly — for there is no compulsion in religion.
In an absolutely unnecessary and petty show of xenophobia, the Smart Selangor PJ City bus service imposed a 90-sen fare on foreigners. Migrant workers have reported walking distances of 7km to save money. The service’s delivery unit has said that the move was to “differentiate the privileges citizens and foreigners would be entitled to when using services provided by the government”, and that the money will be used to upkeep the buses. Is that not what our tax dollars are for?
Stranded Nepali migrant workers who had their wages withheld returned home after the intervention of the Nepal Embassy. However for every rescue there are those who continue to suffer or worse: in early Jan a Nepali worker died after falling from construction scaffolding in Pasir Gudang.
The government is putting in place a six-month grace period for employers to meet the conditions of hiring foreign workers — including minimum wage. The new minimum wage order has also been postponed to July 2023 for companies with fewer than five employees.
Incredibly disappointingly, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has publicly said that the trailer for local film Pulau is unsuitable for viewing. The offending trailer featured women in swimsuits and (gasp, shock, horror!) flashes of near-kissing. The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (which is under the Home Ministry) has issued a warning letter to the film producers.
Have I missed anything? Let me know.
