Malaysia "at a crossroads"

The Star (along with lots of other outlets) reports PM Najib’s announcement of  “major civil liberty reforms” – “historic changes… which represent the biggest shake-up of the Malaysian system since independence from Britain in 1957”. The reforms involve significant changes to the Internal Security Act, the Emergency Ordinance (EO), and regulations on press and assembly.

It is hard to imagine these moves have not been precipitated by the huge “Bersih” protest on 9 July, when a broad cross-section of Malaysians turned out to support electoral reform, and were met with a heavy-handed response that has been much criticized.

(By way of background, The Star recently spotlighted some of the difficulties of the EO, described by a human rights lawyer as “a hammer to kill a mosquito”.) 

Many reactions are still understandably cautious, and the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but these moves are surely a small step in the right direction. It’s too early to hose them down completely.