Debating rights in Malaysia: Contradictions and challenges

Journal of Contemporary Asia

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 108-130

  Verma, Vidhu ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF DELHI   (India)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84937378840     PISSN: 00472336     EISSN: 17527554     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00472330280000071     Document Type: Article

References (51)

1. For various positions see Dworkin R., Taking Rights Seriously Harvard University Press Cambridge 1977 J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Oxford:OUP, 1973).
2. Between July and August 2000 there were three major incidents involving Muslim groups which had inter-state implications:an arms heist by Al Ma'unah cult members in Perak, Malaysia; the hostage crisis in Jolo island, Philippines and the car explosion at the residence of Manila's ambassador in Indonesia. For different versions of these incidents see Deviationist groups a confused lot, says Musa The Sun July 2000 3 3 9 Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Jakarta ties car bomb to rebels in the Philippines,” Washington Post Service, 2 August 2000, Paris.
3. See Bell Daniel A., The East Asian Challenge to Human Rights:Reflections of an East-West Dialogue Human Rights Quarterly 1996 18 641 667
4. Speech by Mahathir bin Mohamad on the New World Order at The Plenary of the Forty-Sixth Session of the United Nations General Assembly 1991 September 24
5. See Thompson Mark R., Late Industrialisers, Late Democratisers:Development States in the Asia-Pacific Third World Quarterly 1996 17 4 625 647
6. For more on the elections see Mutalib Hussin, Malaysia's 1999 General Election:Signposts to Future Politics Asian Journal of Political Science June 2000 8 1 65 89
7. See The ASEAN Declaration 1967 August (Bangkok Declaration) Thailand, 8 available on website of www.aseansec.org. Other ASEAN documents cited in this chapter are taken from this website.
8. See for related ideas Bilimoria Purushottoma, Rights and Duties:The (Modern) Indian Dilemma Ethical and Political Dilemmas of Modern India Smart Ninian, Thakur Shivesh, St Martins Press and Macmillan London 1993 30 59 in
9. For a discussion on Bentham's views see Lyons David, Utility and Rights Theories of Rights Waldron Jeremy, OUP Oxford 1985 110 136 in
10. On the development of human rights in response to Nazi war atrocities see Buergenthal Thomas, The Normative and Institutional Evolution of International Human Rights Human Rights Quarterly 1997 19 703 723
11. For more on human rights and world politics see Forsythe D.P., Human Rights and World Politics University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London 1983
12. p. 41 Rich Roland, The Right to Development:A Right of Peoples? The Rights of Peoples Crawford James, OUP Oxford 1988 39 54 in
13. For a discussion on these aspects see Mayer Ann, Elizabeth Islamic Law and Human Rights:Conundrums and Equivocations Religion and Human Rights. Competing Claims Gustafron Carrie, Juviler Peter, M.E. Sharpe New York 1999 177 197 in
14. For details on the UN-sponsored Vienna conference in 1993 see Debate over Rights. Rejecting Western Pressure, Asia Tables its own Definition Asiaweek June 1993 24 25 30
15. See sections 16, 17, 18 under human rights in Joint Communique of the Twenty-Six ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, Singapore 1993 July 23–24 For more see Towards an Asean Human Rights Mechanism. Proposals, Declarations and Related Documents, by the Working Group for an Asean Human Rights Mechanism, Manila, Philippines, 1999.
16. For a discussion on the national human rights institutions in this region see Padman Padmaja, Shaping our Human Rights Panel New Sunday Times Kuala Lumpur1999April 16 16 25
17. The Treaty on Amity and Cooperation was signed in Bali, Indonesia 1976 February 24 It is based on the principles of mutual respect for non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations (website www.aseansec.org/history).
18. Crispin, Shawn W., 2000. Ties that Bind. FEER, August 10
19. Fuller, Thomas. 1998. Asians criticize treatment of Anwar. International Herald Tribune, February 10 Within Malaysia there was criticism of countries that questioned the Anwar verdict. See Anthony Spaeth, “Rough Justice,” Asiaweek, vol. 156, no. 7/8, 21 August–28 August 2000. From www.cnn.com/ASIANOW.
20. For more on the elections see Mutalib Hussin, Malaysia's 1999 General Election:Signposts to Future Politics Asian Journal of Political Science June 2000 8 1 65 89
21. For similar criticisms see Muzaffar Chandra, From Human Rights to Human Dignity Debating Human Rights. Critical Essays from the USA and Asia Van Ness Peter, Routledge New York 1999 25 31 in
22. Bilimoria. 1993. “ Rights and Duties:The (Modern) Indian Dilemma ”. In Ethical and Political Dilemmas of Modern India, Edited by:Smart, Ninian, and Thakur, Shivesh. 35–35. London:St Martins Press and Macmillan. in
23. Sardar, Ziauddin. 1996. “ Some Thoughts on an Alternative to the Imperium of Human Rights ”. In Human Wrongs. Reflections on Western Global Dominance and its Impact upon Human Rights, Edited by:Muzaffar, Chandra. 243–254. India:The Other India Press. in
24. Speech and Mahathir. October 1993. The Plenary of the Forty-eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, October, New York:United Nations. 1
25. Speech and Mahathir. March 1995. Asian versus Western values, March, UK:The Senate House, Cambridge University. 15
26. Jung, Kim Dae. 1994. Is Culture Destiny? The Myth of Asia's Anti-Democratic Values. Foreign Affairs, 73 (6) November/December:189–194.
27. See his speech on “The Future of Asia,” 19 May 1995, Tokyo, Japan. Some scholars demonstrate that the Look East Policy which he propounded was closely tied to the reliance on Japanese capital see Machado Kit G., Japanese Transnational Corporations in Malaysia's State Sponsored Heavy Industrialisation Drive:The HICOM Automobile and Steel Project Pacific Affairs Winter 1989–90 62 4 504 531
28. 1998. Malaysian Human Rights Report, 128–130. Kuala Lumpur:Suaram Komunikasi.
29. See interview with Das K., Mahathir restoration FEER June 1982 38 41 11
30. For Mahathir's attack on globalization see Making Globalisation Work:Measures to Encourage Trade and Investment Flows 1999 October 11 The Commonwealth Business Forum, Johannesburg, South Africa.
31. Speech and Mahathir. December 1994. The Just International Conference on Rethinking Human Rights, December, Kuala Lumpur:The Legend Hotel. 6
32. Othman, Norani. 1998. “ Islamisation and Modernization in Malaysia:Competing Cultural Reassertions and Women's Identity in a Changing Society ”. In Women, Ethnicity and Nationalism. The Politics of Transition, Edited by:Wilford, Rick, and Miller, Robert L., 170–192. New York and London:Routledge. in
33. For more on this see Shari'a Law and the Modern Nation State. A Malaysian Symposium Othman Norani, SIS Forum Kuala Lumpur 1994
34. Ismail, Rose, ed. 1995. Hudud in Malaysia. The Issues at Stake, Kuala Lumpur:SIS Forum.
35. See Sardar Ziauddin, Some Thoughts on an Alternative to the Imperium of Human Rights Human Wrongs. Reflections on Western Global Dominance and its Impact upon Human Rights Muzaffar Chandra, The Other India Press India 1996 249 249 in and 246
36. Muzaffar, Chandra. 1999. “ From Human Rights to Human Dignity ”. In Debating Human Rights. Critical Essays from the USA and Asia, Edited by:Van Ness, Peter. 29–30. New York:Routledge. in
37. See Muzaffar Chandra, Human Rights Issues:European and Asian perceptions 1997a October 1 7 Keynote address at the International conference on “Rights and Development', organized by Roskilde University, Denmark, 8–10
38. Muzaffar, Chandra. 1997b. A Spiritual Vision of the Human Being. The Other Side, 17 (7) August:63–75.
39. According to Jack Donnelly, such a concern for human goods and human dignity in Islam is not equivalent to a concern for, or recognition of human rights, in Human Rights and Human Dignity:An Analytic Critique of Non-Western Conceptions of Human Rights The American Political Science Review June 1982 76 2 303 316
40. Douglas, Stephen A., and Douglas, Sara U., 1996. Economic Implications of the US-ASEAN Discourse on Human Rights. Pacific Affairs, 69:71–89.
41. See Suh Sangwon, Oorjhitham Santha, Battle for Islam Asiaweek June 2000 29 23 16
42. Elegant, Simon. 2000. Bound by Tradition. FEER, July 27
43. I refer to the work of Rudie Ingrid, Women in Malaysia:Economic Autonomy, Ritual Segregation and some Future Possibilities Women in Islamic Societies Utas Bo, Curzon Press London 1983 128 143 and Humanities Press:USA Haji Faisal Bin Haji Othman, Woman, Islam and National Building (Kuala Lumpur:Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd, 1993).
44. Othman, Norani. 1998. “ Islamisation and Modernization in Malaysia:Competing Cultural Reassertions and Women's Identity in a Changing Society ”. In Women, Ethnicity and Nationalism. The Politics of Transition, Edited by:Wilford, Rick, and Miller, Robert L., 176–176. New York and London:Routledge. in
45. For a general idea of the bureaucratization of Islamic religious affairs see Hassan Sharifah, Zaleha Syed Women, Divorce and Islam in Kedah Sojourn August 1986 1 2 183 198
46. Mohamad, Mahathir bin. 1995. “ Islam Guarantees Justice for All Citizens ”. In Hudud in Malaysia. The Issues at Stake, Edited by:Ismail, Rose. 63–76. Kuala Lumpur:SIS Forum. 1995
47. See Tham Cindy, Winds of Change for PAS The Sun June 2000 6 6 11
48. For a reversal of these views see special report Democracy and Crisis Asiaweek April 1999 52 56 9
49. For more on the Anwar verdict see Spaeth Anthony, Rough Justice Asiaweek August–28 August 2000 156 21 from website Asianow.
50. This view is defended by Esposito John L., Voll John O, Islam and Democracy OUP New York and Oxford 1996 7 7
51. Muzaffar, Chandra, Esposito, John L., and Voll, John O. 1999. Islam and Democracy, 7–7. New York and Oxford:OUP. 63–75