On the 8th of December, Malaysia broke out the first single-ethnic and single-religious rally in its history. The police claimed that 55,000 Malays/Muslims have flooded the Dataran Merdeka and Masjid Jamek, to “celebrate” the government’s refusal to sign the “International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)”.

     By tying a strip that wrote” Bantah ICRED” on their head, or holding a cloth that stated the “Article 153 of the Federal Constitution”, they shouted “Bangkit Melayu” and the name of “Allah” agitatedly, which then created a strong atmosphere of racial discrimination everywhere.

 

     Although it wasn’t easy for me to observe them in the crowd, just because I’m a Chinese and might look a bit different, but out of surprise, when I asked them if they’ve any idea what “ICERD” exactly means, there’s only few can explain it properly.

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    In fact, “ICERD” is a United Nations convention that commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races. It also stipulates that signatory countries must outlaw hate speech and criminalise membership in racist organisations. So obviously, it’s important for a diverse country such as Malaysia to ratify it!

 

    But unfortunately, “ICERD” has became a weapon for the opposition parties, in particular the UMNO who is still unwilling to give up on losing power after the 14th general election, to use to challenge the sovereignty of the new government, Pakatan Harapan. It even joined hands with PAS to deceive and inculcate the Malays, that this convention would jeopardise their special rights and destroy the special status of Islam. As a result, they succeeded in instigating the grassroots who have been in a state of unease for a long time to come out to defend their rights.

 

    To be frank, I was a bit angry and fear when I first arrived at the scene, because I couldn’t really understand why is it( Bantah ICERD rally) happening. In the meantime, I feel that I've been discriminated against by the majority of this country.    

 

   But I soon realised, most of them were actually harmless. And they were merely puppets behind this ridiculous drama, that masterminded by the lost captains who have only a few powers left.