social issues in malaysia 2021
In February media reported an accusation by the attorney for retail worker Leong Ann Ping that Leong was sexually harassed by male suspects while detained in the local jail at Mukah, Sarawak State, that she suffered from insomnia and headaches while incarcerated, and that police were not responsive to her request for morning headache medicine. With their shared culture, religion and a very similar language, Indonesia was the single biggest contributor of immigrants to Malaysia. Students returning to Malaysia will have to undergo a COVID-19 swab test and quarantine procedures. Smoking . Employers of domestic workers sometimes failed to honor the terms of employment and subjected workers to abuse. In February the government introduced the Workers Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act as an emergency ordinance during the state of emergency compelling employers and centralized accommodation providers to provide lodging with sufficient living space and amenities for migrant workers to effectively control the spread of COVID-19. Criminal defamation is punishable by a maximum two years imprisonment, a fine, or both. In September Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin announced that everyone in the country was eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine regardless of documentation status, but many remained skeptical. The police questioned six Al Jazeera staff members and raided the organizations offices in Kuala Lumpur. Opposition lawmakers slammed then minister of health Adham Baba for breaking his promise that no action would be taken against doctors who participated in the strike. Notes. Share this via Reddit KUALA LUMPUR: Racial tension remains a prevalent issue in Malaysia which must be addressed to avoid further detrimental impacts on the country, said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Passport confiscation by employers increased migrant workers vulnerability to forced labor; the practice was illegal but widespread and generally went unpunished. Defendants may appeal court decisions to higher courts, but only if the appeal raises a question of law or if material circumstances raise a reasonable doubt regarding conviction or sentencing. The government reported that 23 people, including two children, died while in immigration detention during the first six months of 2020. Many NGOs complained women did not receive fair treatment from sharia courts, especially in divorce and child custody cases (see section 6). The constitution fixes the number of seats in parliament assigned to each state to the advantage of rural states and regardless of population shifts over time. The executive director of local human rights NGO Suaram, Sevan Doraisamy, reported that according to Suarams media monitoring, widely reported custodial deaths during the year pointed to a combination of a sense of impunity and poor health systems in detention centers.. The law classifies some types of workplace sexual harassment as criminal offenses (see section 7.d.). Also in August, police barricaded the main route to parliament to prevent opposition members of parliament from entering the building after Speaker of the Lower House Azhar Harun suspended a special parliamentary session citing COVID-19 concerns. The king is the head of state, serves a largely ceremonial role, and has a five-year term. On July 13, the Federal Court announced that it would be taking time to deliberate before issuing a decision. The law does not prohibit discrimination with respect to race, religion, national origin, color, sex, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, HIV or AIDS status, or refugee status in employment and hiring; the director general of labor may investigate discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment for both foreign and local employees. The Attorney Generals Chambers requested a fine of 200,000 ringgit ($47,500), but Yusuf fined Malaysiakini more than double that amount. The director general of trade unions and the minister of human resources may refuse to register or withdraw registration from some unions without judicial oversight. He said social media, while being an effective communication platform, can be abused and trigger discord when issues concerning race, income or religion are . A Hartalega spokesperson announced in August the firm had fully reimbursed all migrant workers who were then employed at Hartalega and was continuing to reimburse eligible former workers. The Immigration Department announced that it had revoked the work permit of Mohammed Rayhan Kabir, a migrant worker from Bangladesh who featured in the documentary. In September the High Court ruled that mothers who are citizens have the right to confer citizenship to their children born overseas on an equal basis with men who are citizens, but the government appealed the decision. Depression. Close to nine in 10 (87%) HR executives in Malaysia believe the function plays a leading role in responding to COVID-19, KPMG's recent 2020 HR Pulse Survey has found. Indigenous persons are governed by customary laws with no fixed minimum age for marriage. Long delays continued in the treatment of union claims to obtain recognition for collective bargaining purposes. The governments Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and SUHAKAM monitored prisons on a case-by-case basis. The law prohibits all of the worst forms of child labor. Investigation by the Criminal Investigation Division within the Royal Malaysian Police into the use of deadly force by a police officer occurs only if the attorney general initiates the investigation or approves an application for an investigation by family members of the deceased. For examples of social problems in Malaysia include crime, violence, gangsterism, drug abuse, baby dumping, vandalism, and young relationship among youth. Unless trends change this year, the annual total of newborns in the world's third-largest economy is on track to hit . In July, the home minister banned Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance and Hope in New Malaysia under the Printing Presses and Publications Act after claims that the books cover resembled the countrys coat of arms. While recent data was very limited, a 2012 study by a professor at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Malaya, found that more than 93 percent of approximately 1,000 Muslim women surveyed in three of the countrys 13 states had undergone the procedure. In September religious authorities in Kelantan State posted fliers in public places such as shopping malls and grocery stores warning the community about LGBTQI+ persons and the need to be vigilant against their influence. The government cracked down on migrants, particularly Rohingya, who were put into detention centers for what it claimed was COVID-19-related quarantine.. The government also had the right to compel arbitration in the case of failed collective bargaining negotiations. Child sex trafficking also occurred (see section 6, Children). The officials were allegedly offered cash and women for sexual services to ignore the cartels activities. Authorities provide defendants free interpretation in Mandarin, Tamil, and some other commonly used dialects from the moment charged through all appeals. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor, c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment, d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation. Healthcare. In August 2020, the Federal Court upheld the constitutionality of the mandatory death . The law protects foreign domestic workers only regarding wages and contract termination. Keep posting! The report also alleged that one accredited election observer actively campaigned for the former Barisan Nasional government. . In view of the absence of a direct employment relationship with owners of a workplace, subcontracted workers may not form a union and may not negotiate or benefit from collective bargaining agreements. UNHCR registers children born to refugees (see section 2.g., Stateless Persons). The law requires workers to use safety equipment and cooperate with employers to create a safe, healthy workplace, but it does not specify a right to remove oneself from a hazardous or dangerous situation without penalty. For children between ages 14 and 18, there was no list clarifying specific occupations or sectors considered hazardous and therefore prohibited. Bail is usually available for persons accused of crimes not punishable by life imprisonment or death. In February, Court of Appeal President Rohana Yusuf found independent online news portal Malaysiakini guilty of contempt for user comments posted to an article the portal published in June 2020; chief editor Steven Gan was acquitted. People also migrate because of factors like wars, poverty, discrimination, and for political or even religious reasons. On May 13, police detained two boys, ages 12 and 13, at a local police station in Sentul, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, on suspicion of throwing firecrackers at policemen sent to disperse a crowd of approximately 200 setting off fireworks. Trials for all were delayed due to the state of emergency and movement control orders to combat COVID-19. The list of social problems goes on and on. Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people remains pervasive in Malaysia. 5. They exercised many of the responsibilities of national-level labor unions, although they could not bargain on behalf of local unions. Share this via Telegram Observers generally considered SUHAKAM a credible human rights monitor. Authorities, however, often treated children exploited in commercial sex as offenders or undocumented immigrants rather than as victims. In May the National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia, the Centre for Independent Journalism, and Gerakan Media Merdeka issued a statement in response to five incidents where authorities questioned and investigated journalists early in the year. The trial of former deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi for his role in a fraudulent scheme involving hundreds of thousands of Nepali workers seeking jobs in the country continued as of September. Saddiq was released on bail, and the charges were transferred to a Kuala Lumpur court in September. Defendants have the right to communicate with an attorney of their choice or to have counsel appointed at public expense if they face charges that carry the death penalty. Malaysia went from a success story in 2020 to calamity in 2021. Further custodial deaths were recorded but no one was held to account. Government procurement and licensing policies favored bumiputra-owned businesses. Responding to a request from the deputy public prosecutor, a judge ordered her release. As of April, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development recorded 2,040 cases of child abuse. Registering a new political party remained difficult because of government restrictions on the process. Girls age 16 and older can marry with permission of their states chief minister. Although parliament annulled the emergency ordinance in October, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa declared that any ongoing investigations of fake news would not be affected by the annulment. The law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and provides for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of his or her arrest or detention in court, and the government generally observed these requirements. Individuals or organizations may sue the government and officials in court for alleged violations of human rights; however, a large case backlog often resulted in delays in civil actions to the disadvantage of plaintiffs. The law restricts collective bargaining in pioneer industries the government has identified as growth priorities, including various high-technology fields. Migrant workers also faced employment discrimination (see sections 7.b. Her lawyer presented a medical leave certificate to the court the next day, but the judge rejected it. 1 Liew Chin Tong, Middle Malaysia: Centre Ground Is Battle Ground (Kuala Lumpur: Genta Media . According to Department of Occupational Safety and Health statistics, as of July, 111 workers died, 3,668 acquired a nonpermanent disability, and 140 acquired permanent disability in work-related incidents. #3. Hamzah announced that the Ministry of Home Affairs was installing closed-circuit television inside all police lockups in April and that installation was 40 percent complete as of September 29. These are problems that are specific to a place such as a nation, city or neighborhood. Laws prohibit such actions; nevertheless, authorities sometimes infringed on citizens privacy. Occupational Safety and Health: Occupational health and safety laws cover all sectors of the economy except the maritime sector and the armed forces. In July the Court of Appeal acquitted UMNO parliamentarian and former federal territories minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor of two million ringgit ($480,000) in corruption charges and overturned a 12-month jail sentence imposed by the High Court in December 2020. Recognizing public transportation was not friendly to persons with disabilities, the government maintained its 50 percent reduction of excise duty on locally made cars and motorcycles adapted for such persons. Pre-existing inequalities in education were exacerbated by students unequal access to the internet, with rural and indigenous communities particularly affected. One of the largest issues in Malaysia is tension between these people groups.