[Msia] Constitutional Rights

I guess this is as good an entry point to start writing about Msian politics and society.

Last Sunday morning was different. Attended a talk "Federal Constitution: Protection for All" which was organized by the Bar Council. Interesting stuff where several speakers spoke about the constitution in different dimensions.

I came in at a time some prof was going through a list of items that constituted actual violations agst the constitution; the next speaker then spoke about a culture of constitutionalism and how events in Msia had made the constitution a distant document hardly to be taken off the shelves; followed by a younger chap who took a realist pov of silent majorities, and how the constitution has been subject to changes wrt developments in political Islam and the Malay race (the speaker was actually a Muslim by the way) that had eroded the secular framework in which the constitution was drafted; and finally Zaid Ibrahim talked about the constitution in a politician's context (to his credit - he seemed to make more sense than most of those who appear regularly on TV and media).

For me, I just soaked it all in. It was refreshing to go back to issues that I was so interested in so long ago. But on a serious note, the topics on the constitution aside, Msian society has generally regressed; and for me - I am still thinking of what role I can play in stopping a dire situation from becoming utterly hopeless.