{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1113980,
        "msgid": "relaxing-the-rules-1447893297",
        "date": "2001-04-24 00:00:00",
        "title": "Relaxing the rules",
        "author": null,
        "source": "JP",
        "tags": null,
        "topic": null,
        "summary": "Relaxing the rules Malaysia's Human Rights Commission is unlikely to persuade the country's government to scrap the Internal Security Act when it is such a useful tool for suppressing dissent. Nor is Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad enthusiastic about calls for a sweeping review of laws that restrict press freedom or curtail political rallies. But it was he who set up the commission -- known as Suhakam -- and he will have to live with its findings.",
        "content": "<p>Relaxing the rules<\/p>\n<p>Malaysia's Human Rights Commission is unlikely to persuade the<br>\ncountry's government to scrap the Internal Security Act when it<br>\nis such a useful tool for suppressing dissent. Nor is Prime<br>\nMinister Mahathir Mohamad enthusiastic about calls for a sweeping<br>\nreview of laws that restrict press freedom or curtail political<br>\nrallies.<\/p>\n<p>But it was he who set up the commission -- known as Suhakam --<br>\nand he will have to live with its findings. There were<br>\nsuspicions, given its origins, that the commission would produce<br>\na bland report. But it has certainly not done so. The authors,<br>\nwho include Musa Hitam, former deputy prime minister and former<br>\nchairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights, recognize that the<br>\ngrowing demand for greater political freedom cannot be ignored<br>\nindefinitely. The jailing of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim<br>\nlet the genie out of the bottle, and even a controlling leader<br>\nlike Dr. Mahathir has to bow to pressure when it becomes<br>\nunassailable.<\/p>\n<p>Significantly, the report dismisses the familiar theme that<br>\nhuman rights in Asia means just a daily meal. For an educated and<br>\nincreasingly sophisticated society, \"a full stomach is no longer<br>\nenough\" says Suhakam. Therein lies the problem. It is easy enough<br>\nto satisfy the wants of the population when the economy is<br>\ngrowing, but affluence creates a different set of needs, and<br>\ngovernments -- however reluctantly -- must yield to them<br>\neventually.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Mahathir is rightly praised as the architect of Malaysian<br>\nprosperity, but there is a darker side to the picture, which<br>\nrecent events have brought to the fore. Ethnic strife and growing<br>\nreligious fundamentalism are symbols of a wider discontent. If<br>\nthe nation's voice is silenced, it will eventually find other<br>\nmeans of expression. Relaxing repressive rules could take the<br>\ntension out of a volatile situation.<\/p>\n<p>-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/relaxing-the-rules-1447893297",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}