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Photo by James Lew
Acceptance speech delivered by Ambiga Sreenevasan, the recipient of the Malaysian Bar Lifetime Achievement Award 2021, at the Award Ceremony for the recipients of MBLAA 2020 and 2021 held on 10 December 2021, at Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar.
Mr. AG Kalidas, President of the Malaysian Bar, Dato’ Sri M Ramachelvam, the Chairman of MBLAA Selection Committee, Tan Sri VC George and Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy both former Presidents of the Malaysian Bar and past recipients of MBLAA, Mr Ragunath Kesavan and Mr Steven Thiru, former Presidents of the Malaysian Bar, Your Excellencies and friends.
It is an honour to receive this prestigious Award from the Malaysian Bar, a principled and courageous Institution. Thank you Mr.President and members of the Bar for considering me worthy of this recognition. Thank you also to Sumitha Shantinni Kisha who nominated me. The greater is the honour when I look at all those who preceded me as recipients of this award including the formidable late, great Tan Sri PG Lim.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Malaysian Bar, my second family, has earned the respect of so many around the world because it has remained true to its purpose of upholding the rule of law without fear or favour and never flinching even in the face of severe criticism. As we have all learnt, criticism from the powers that be invariably means that we are doing the right thing.
When I moved on to Bersih, I thought that I could relax after two tough years as President of the Malaysian Bar. I could not have been more wrong. I learnt very quickly that life as an activist is very different from what I had experienced in the Bar Council and had its own set of challenges. It was a steep learning curve and my respect for human rights defenders and activists, increased exponentially.
On this Human Rights Day I would like to pay tribute to the human rights defenders and activists in this country who work tirelessly fighting causes for the vulnerable and downtrodden, and who give a voice to the voiceless. I discovered that most of them have to work under difficult circumstances, raising their own funds as they lack support from the government. They rely so often on public donations and grants from foreign institutions. Many are selfless volunteers. They taught me about facing our fears, facing intimidation, and, of course, facing tear gas. During the recent lockdowns, many of them sprang into action using their networks to provide food and shelter for the poor and needy. They filled the huge gaps created by the crisis which the government did not.
One can only hope that with Malaysia being on the Human Rights Council for the third time, activists and Human Rights Defenders will receive far more support and respect from the Government. We can also hope that this time around our leaders will truly learn the meaning and importance of human rights.
Someone (in politics) once said to me that people on the ground don’t care about the rule of law and human rights and that they are more concerned about bread and butter issues. It then falls on people like us, especially lawyers and activists to care about the rule of law and human rights on the people’s behalf. The destruction of the rule of law and the undermining of human rights will eventually affect not only bread and butter issues, but every aspect of our lives. Indeed, even our very existence.
It is impossible to ignore that the world has just been through an unprecedented crisis. Good leaders became better but bad leaders became worse. In Malaysia, Covid uncovered the gross inequity and inequality that exist in our midst. All our weaknesses were exposed. This was in fact, the best time for us to work to fix these obvious systemic weaknesses and failures. Unfortunately, some leaders saw this as an opportunity to enhance their political powers by taking advantage of a populace who were vulnerable and afraid. It was an opportunity for them to suspend the functioning of the rule of law in the name of fighting the pandemic. In Malaysia we saw the ultimate abuse in the Declaration of Emergency. Fundamental liberties were undermined or suspended.
Over the two difficult Covid years, it seemed as if we were drifting to the edge of a twilight zone. Right became wrong and wrong became right. Corruption was Ok as long as we labelled it something else. Some people were more equal than others and were above the law. They did not modify their behaviour to accord with principles and ethical values. Instead they “adjusted” our principles, ethical values and even our religious beliefs to accommodate bad behaviour. Tired and numb from dealing with the ravages of Covid, people just seemed to lose hope. Until Wednesday, the 8th of December, where in a strongly worded unanimous judgment the pronouncement was loud and clear : corruption is NOT ok and no one is above the law. It had seemed like we had been heading for derailment when suddenly there was a course correction putting us back on track. Of course the matter is on appeal, as is their right, and I will say nothing about the merits of the case.
Over the two difficult Covid years, it seemed as if we were drifting to the edge of a twilight zone. Right became wrong and wrong became right. Corruption was Ok as long as we labelled it something else. Some people were more equal than others and were above the law. They did not modify their behaviour to accord with principles and ethical values. Instead they “adjusted” our principles, ethical values and even our religious beliefs to accommodate bad behaviour. Tired and numb from dealing with the ravages of Covid, people just seemed to lose hope. Until Wednesday, the 8th of December, where in a strongly worded unanimous judgment the pronouncement was loud and clear : corruption is NOT ok and no one is above the law. It had seemed like we had been heading for derailment when suddenly there was a course correction putting us back on track. Of course the matter is on appeal, as is their right, and I will say nothing about the merits of the case.
It is not as though we have never had leaders who had the right values. I will name one such leader. Tun Hussein Onn, our third prime Minister. Tun Hussein holds a special significance for us. He was a member of the Bar and practised at Skrine. He headed the committee that established the Bar’s Disciplinary Board. On 10th December 1988, HAKAM (the National Human Rights Society) was founded on the 40tth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights luminaries in Malaysia together with Tunku, Tun Hussein Onn, Raja Aziz Addruse, Dr Tan Chee Khoon and Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin stood together in declaring the formation of HAKAM. Today HAKAM is 33 years old.
Tun Hussein was well known as a man of integrity. I was told that he refused to allow his official car to be used for personal use. No one would dare see him for favours or contracts. He was very particular about everything he wrote and everything he said, always believing that a leader must choose his words carefully. How does that compare with the leaders we have today? Why is it so difficult today to find leaders with the attributes of Tun Hussein Onn? We yearn for a return to those values.
One of my father’s favorite stories was that of Diogenes, a Greek Philosopher who went about with a lamp in broad daylight. When asked why, Diogenes answered, “I am looking for an honest man.” I wonder how many honest men and women we may find in our leaders even if we used the floodlights of a football stadium!
Speaking of lives well lived, I must make mention of two people whose lives were infinitely more worthy than mine and who made me what I am today, my parents. My father was born in Malaysia. He was a surgeon. My mother was from India. She was a homemaker. In all my father’s endeavours, my mother was there right by his side. After Merdeka, my father and his friends and colleagues heeded the call by the Tunku for all citizens to work together to build the new independent Malaya. The Tunku firmly believed that there was “a place in the sun for everyone”. My father was known for his work in building up urology as a specialty in Malaysia. He worked to establish the Institute of Urology and Nephrology at the GHKL in 1968. His was a life of service and one of his greatest contributions (and the contributions of his colleagues) was their work with the National Kidney Foundation which today has many dialysis centres nationwide for kidney patients. My parents lived simple and principled lives. We were taught that truth, justice, goodness, compassion and understanding shown to others, were important values. With the help of a Fullbright Award in 1968, my father had gone to the U.S.A. to train in Boston and then UCLA. On hearing of the 1969 riots, one of the professors at UCLA offered him a position in the unit. He refused. It was said of him by a colleague that “such was his commitment to his native Malaysia and the embryonic urology institute in Kuala Lumpur, that he graciously declined the offer and returned home to continue his pioneering work”. Both my parents were good citizens. They took their voting rights seriously and ensured they exercised their right to vote in every election.
My parent’s history is my history and I will never allow anyone to take that history away from me or to attempt to rewrite it in any way. Neither should any of us allow the history of everyone of that generation who toiled to build this nation to be obliterated. This also includes those who built the nation like the workers who built the roads, the railways, tapped our rubber trees, and our farmers. Also, our army, navy and the police who protected the security of the nation with their lives and others just too numerous to name. They were Malayans and then Malaysians, of all races.
I am not prepared to give up on that investment of their blood, sweat and tears to build this country just to satisfy some convenient political agenda today. I am not prepared to be bullied (I hate bullies) into believing some of us are second class citizens. (The last time I checked the Federal Constitution there are no two classes of citizens). I am not prepared to be told that the subjects of race and religion are “offlimits” because I am who I am. I am not prepared to modify my conduct to suit anyone’s racism, extremism and abuse. As far as I am concerned, any issue that impinges on the human rights of any human being, whatever their race or religion, gender or sexual orientation, is never off limits. If those who oppress want us to keep quiet, then they should not oppress.
Ladies and gentlemen, in short, we must honour our past, we must fight for our present, and now most importantly, we must fight for the future.
We cannot fail the next generation and we cannot hand them a country that is less than whole. They have more on their plate than we have. On top of everything else they face the existential crisis of climate change, an issue we seem to be blissfully unaware of. We have flora and fauna that are threatened. Our tigers are becoming extinct. Our food security, access to clean water and the air that we breathe are under threat. Yet we continue with indiscriminate deforestation, reclaiming of land, and the polluting of our rivers. Bill Gates has said “There are two numbers you need to know about climate change. The first is 51 billion. The other is zero. Fifty one billion is how many tons of greenhouse gasses the world typically adds to the atmosphere every year. Zero is what we need to aim for. Are we doing enough to make this happen? Again, ordinary Malaysians have become activists in this cause to save our planet. We must support them. As has been said, there is no Planet B.
Unfortunately, what takes centre stage in this country is what Dr. Jeyakumar (one honest man!) calls” ethnicised politicking”. He says that this must cease and instead we must keep advocating for more government programmes to help the vulnerable. He says that we should all start understanding the issues that other communities are faced with. I agree.
Recently, I signed on to a letter with about 50 other people asking for the setting up of a Better Malaysia Assembly. This is a move towards deliberative democracy. This is a platform that is not new. It is used with success in other countries eg Ireland, Chile, Iceland. It allows for issues to be debated without politics getting in the way. It is a way for ordinary citizens to come together to help resolve issues without being concerned with politics or popularity. The idea has received criticism. It has been described as elitist, and people have questioned the signatories. That is fair enough. But if you would look at it more closely, you will see it has merit. I was also criticized for signing on with some of the signatories with whom I have disagreements. But this is not about us. We are not suggesting that we be the members. What I do know is that for the first time we all agree something must be done for the creation of a better Malaysia. If we remain in our respective “corners” when do we ever meet in the middle to solve the problems of the country that we love. This assembly will be a people’s assembly and will augment the work of our leaders. It is at the very least, worth a discussion.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as I close I must thank my nearest and dearest, my family and friends for the support they have shown me through the years (special shout out to my uncle and aunt). A special thanks to Miss Tee Puay Tee, my personal assistant and friend for 40 years who has seen me through the best and worst of times.
Conclusion
Have I made mistakes? Of course I have. But I always try my best to confront those mistakes and come back to centre.
K Shanmuga, my colleague, sent me a text message several days ago to congratulate me on being given this Award. He asked, does this mean you are retiring? To my friends like Shanmuga and also to my detractors, let me say this. I am not done yet!!