Why ratify ICERD now?
Ratifying ICERD would require a total change of mindset and how things are done in Malaysia, not least the ruling political parties’ own race-based membership structures.
Don’t get me wrong; I think the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) is a great United Nations treaty.
But ratifying ICERD would require a total change of mindset and how things are done in Malaysia, not least the ruling political parties’ own race-based membership structures.
Malaysia must move, sooner rather than later, towards equality.
But to do that, I believe it is more effective to start by changing some things locally first and holding lots of town hall meetings with the public, not just select NGOs, before taking the significant step of ratifying a UN treaty.
The point of ratifying a UN treaty is to show that our country agrees with the spirit of that agreement, which in the case of ICERD, is the eradication of racial discrimination to promote equality and the belief that everyone is entitled to all human rights and fundamental liberties.
It is useless to ratify a UN treaty just for the sake of it, but throw in a whole bunch of reservations that defeat the point of ratifying it in the first place.
“Convinced that any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous, and that there is no justification for racial discrimination, in theory or in practice, anywhere” — says the preamble of ICERD.
Racial superiority, unfortunately, is still socially acceptable in Malaysian society.
It may not be in the guise of “Ketuanan Melayu” anymore as it has taken on religious overtones, but it exists. The Chinese, Indians, and other “nons” have a more subtle reaction, but it is no less racist. And so the conflict continues to simmer quietly.
