S3489300 : Working Around Electoral Reform When Established First in 2007 - Sociology Assignment

Internal Code: MAS5798

Sociology Assignment:

Bersih is one of the organisations that we visited during the study tour in Malaysia, working around electoral reform when established first in 2007. Prior to coming to Malaysia, I was expecting the country to be one of the top countries in Asia, in terms of the political system. It was shocking to hear that there is so much corruption happening in the Malaysian government.  I was assuming that the king rules the country and everything revolves around his decisions. I was assuming the there is only one king that is in power and he will be in his position until he is deceased, so the next king who would be the son takes over. However, finding out that there are 9 sultans (kings) which are being rotated in becoming kings was very surprising to me. Finding out that the prime minister is the one who is not being rotated was even more shocking to me. This length of stay in the position for a prime minister obviously creates room for corruption in the government. So, when I heard about the prime minister's $50 billion scheme which I had previously had heard about it made more sense to me during the visit. The prime minister has been in position for quite a while and can easily penetrate the system. Being told that there are not much follow-ups or investigations on the public officials especially the prime minister even after being allocations of killing a Mongolian girl, my understanding was that the prime minister has a large influence in the country and can get his hands on everything. There is so many needs to be done in the country. The more Bersih told the group about the government, corruptions and the current situation, the more I was inspired by the Bersih organisation and the work they did. Despite receiving death threats, charges, and imprisonment terms, they are still continuing. Being told that the government has been around for 60 years and the organization has just been established about a decade ago, made me realise that people are now really fed up with the government as the level of corruption is rising. In my opinion, Malaysia is not a social democrat country and will never be one if continuing this trend. People are very tight and everything is very restricted. The prime minister has control over the media, public officials, newspapers and almost everything. All these just make me think where is this country going with this government. Having all these thoughts, I absolutely support the work the Bersih organization puts in place in trying to bring about a massive change in their nation. It is obviously more than just an electoral reform as we were told, it's about reforming the institution to actually see change happening. 2) Understanding and protecting the rights of children has always been a controversial topic globally, particularly in developing countries. Although Malaysia is on the list together with other developing nations, I never compared the country with other developing nations such as Afghanistan or Pakistan. The reason for that is because Malaysia is a country that is financially stable, due to its many tourist attractions especially the Petronas twin towers. I was assuming the government to be generous in terms of welfare and protecting the rights of its citizens especially the children's rights, as they are always the vulnerable ones. I was not expecting the rights of children to be neglected to this extent. Considering Malaysia is a signatory to the convention on the rights of children. I was expecting the government to be more respectful of the rights of children. However, the government just does not seem to care. I guess Malaysia still has a long way to go in reaching its target of becoming a developed nation. Sharmila's presentation on understanding and protecting the rights of children just made me realise that how important it is to protect children at early stages of their lives.  For the saddest part, although today there are many signatories to the CRC, the rights of children are still being neglected and their voices are still not being heard. As far as my understandings although Malaysia seems like an advanced country and in competition with developed nations, the very basic children's Rights are neglected. Children live in terrible conditions and are deprived of their basic necessities. They are deprived of the right to education and basic health care. Children are basically not heard in this country and it just makes me think that government for sure is not doing enough in following the CRC applying the international standards on the rights of children. I guess the issues related to protecting the rights of children will be continued unless there is political will for a change. Being part of this trip and learning so much about different issues, it just makes me realise how blessed I am to live in a developed country such as Australia where not only children’s rights are respected, but all human rights are respected.