This is the same government that reportedly, along with Singapore, has opposed including sexual orientation and gender identity in the ASEAN human rights declaration. As Alex Au wrote, "Aichr representatives (one each) from Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei had been given directives by their respective governments to oppose any mention of SOGI in the Asean Human Rights Declaration". Civil society groups are now calling for the draft declaration to keep up with international human rights laws and standards." ("At Asean, Singapore choosing to be anti-human rights")
From Forum-Asia:
Failure to protect the rights of specific groups: The rights of individuals, groups and peoples whose rights are subject to frequent and systematic attacks in ASEAN, and therefore deserve specific protection, as developed in international human rights standards, are either mentioned in one or two words or not mentioned at all. Women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrant workers are barely mentioned, whereas the rights of minorities, LGBT/Q persons, Indigenous Peoples and persons deprived of liberty get no mention at all.
Fridae's report sums up the happenings and contains links to relevant sites.
What do you think this means for the region, especially as Singapore begins our national conversation?