Farewell to 'fearless fighter' Irene Fernandez

Former Malaysian YCW fulltime worker and IYCW International Team member, Irene Fernandez, a well-known labour and human rights activist has died following a heart attack.

Her sister Josie told Malaysiakini that Irene died at 10.58am on 31 March 2014 at the Coronary Care Unit at Serdang Hospital south of Kuala Lumpur.

"Her organs were all fine but her heart stopped. The doctors tried their best to resuscitate her.

"Irene was very brave and courageous and as I speak to you now, I can see that her face is so serene, so calm," she told Malaysiakini.

"We are celebrating Irene's beautiful and powerful life... People of all faiths and from all communities are welcome for the prayers and for the funeral service."

The funeral will take place at Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Shah Alam, Selangor, on 3 April at 3.00pm.

Irene was the daughter of the Indian migrants. She witnessed the poor condition of Malaysian workers employed in the rubber plantation sector. Her parents were part of the workforce.

After initially working as a school teacher, Irene became a fulltime worker for the Malaysian YCW from 1970. She later became a member of the IYCW Asian Extension Team and a member of the IYCW International Team elected in 1975.

In 1991, she founded the women workers' organisation Tenaganita. After exposing the treatment of detained Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia, she was charged with "maliciously publishing false news" and found guilty after a seven year trial. The conviction was finally set aside on appeal in 2008.

Former Malaysian YCW leader now Federal parliamentarian, Charles Santiago, described her as "a fearless fighter, who stood for people who had no one to stand for them."

"I have worked closely with her on human rights issues, and taken part in international conferences to champion the rights of the ordinary person.

"Malaysia and the international community has lost a great person who advocated for justice and human rights.

"Condolences to members of her family, Joe, Aegile, Josie, her children and those who have been privileged to meet her," Santiago said in a statement.

"You always testified that ‘it was the YCW which formed you and it was Cardijn who motivated you to commit yourself to the service of the suffering masses’," CCI Secretary General MJ Ruben said in a tribute. "Thank you Irene for being a role model to us! "

"When we bid farewell to you Irene, we assured you that we shall continue to promote the vision, spirituality and methodology of Cardijn – who formed you and many of us.

"Thank you Irene for all your dreams and accomplishments! Rest in peace," Ruben wrote.

"We mourn the passing of one of the greatest leaders formed by the Cardijn movement," CCI convenor Stefan Gigacz added. "We grieve with and express our condolences to all her family and loved ones."

This article will be updated as information comes to hand.

Read the full CCI Tribute to Irene:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vIWfrD6hF-i9BdCy4BvI5_FvBiE0MNCImwFF6LZKxZA/edit 

CCI Pioneers page:

http://pioneers.josephcardijn.com/irene-fernandez

Tribute by CCI International Team adviser Charles Santiago

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/my-tribute-to-irene-fernandez-charles-santiago

FUNERAL

http://www.fz.com/video/grand-sendoff-migrants-heroine-irene-fernandez 

http://www.fz.com/content/farewell-fighter-irene-fernandezs-funeral

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/well-wishers-says-last-goodbye-to-irene-fernandez

http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2014/04/02/irene-fernandez-the-voice-of-the-voiceless/

NEWS SOURCES

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/04/04/Hundreds-pay-last-respects-to-passionate-activist-Fernandez/

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/04/02/Fernandez-proud-to-be-daughter-of-migrant-worker/

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/31/Malaysians-pay-tribute-to-Irene-Fernandez/

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/495157-irene-fernandez-was-a-fearless-fighter.html

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1002028

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/258659

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tenaganitas-irene-fernandez-dies-of-heart-failure

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2014-04-01/tributes-flow-after-malaysian-rights-activist-irene-fernandez-dies-aged-67/1288562

https://www.facebook.com/charlessantiago?fref=ts

CCI News

http://www.cardijn.info/2012/08/slavery-days-coming-back-warns-irene.html

http://archives.cardijn.info/cci-news/convictionandsentenceagainstirenefernandezsetaside

TRIBUTES

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/abdar-rahman-koya/article/irene-fernandezs-legacy-to-malaysian-muslims

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/259038

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/04/03/tribute-to-malaysian-activist-irene-fernandez/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/02/world/asia/irene-fernandez-champion-of-oppressed-dies-at-67.html?_r=0

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=254202:ignored-persecuted-by-the-bn-govt-but-irene-fernandez-died-not-in-vain-msia-loses-one-of-its-greatest-daughters&Itemid=2#axzz2xckeLrNj

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2014/04/01/a-life-dedicated-to-peoples-struggle/

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1026929

http://www.dw.de/the-voice-of-malaysian-migrants-is-no-more/g-17532712

http://aliran.com/civil-society-voices/2014-civil-society-voices/irene-fernandez-life-full-meaning-dedicated-peoples-struggle/

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/258722

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/what-you-think/article/irene-fernandez-activist-friend-and-a-great-daughter-of-malaysia-bersih-2.0

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/495157-irene-fernandez-was-a-fearless-fighter.html 

http://www.hrw.org/node/12431 

http://www.nst.com.my/latest/irene-fernandez-s-passion-and-dedication-for-human-rights-will-be-missed-us-ambassador-1.544171

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Slavery days coming back, warns Irene Fernandez

A Cambodian domestic worker in Malaysia told human rights activist Irene Fernandez that she used to suck the fish bones left on her employer’s dinner plate, because she was only given leftovers to eat.

Another said she was forced to cook, clean and care for children from 5 a.m. until past midnight, the New York Times reports.


“It’s so dehumanizing,” Ms. Fernandez told the paper. “To me, it’s just slavery days coming back — and that’s just frightening.”

Ms. Fernandez’s first job was as a teacher, but at the age of 23, she left the security of a government job for the life of an activist with the Malaysian YCW and later the women’s rights movement.

The accounts of abuse she has heard led Ms. Fernandez to conclude that Malaysia does not do enough to protect migrant workers, she told The Jakarta Post, an Indonesian newspaper, in May.

But the Malaysian government was not happy.

“While there may not be specific laws for migrant workers, Malaysia has sufficient laws to protect all workers, including foreign workers,” Ms. Maznah was quoted as saying in The Star, a Malaysian newspaper.

A police spokesman said Monday that the investigation was still under way and it had not yet been decided whether to charge Ms. Fernandez. Charges may be less likely given that Prime Minister Najib Razak recently announced that he intends to repeal the Sedition Act.

SOURCE

Malaysian Activist Speaks Out for Migrant Workers (New York Times)

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Sarasvathy wins Yayori human rights award

Ex-YCW leader, Sarasvathy Muthu, who was arrested recently under Malaysia's harsh internal security laws, has taken out this year's Yayori Award for her work with marginalised people.

The Yayori Award honours women who work at the grassroots level with socially marginalised people to create 21st century free from war and discrimination against women. Established in 2005, it recognises those who best emulate the passion and courage of the late Yayori Matsui, a pioneer woman journalist and women's right activist in Japan.

This year's winner is Saraswathy Muthu (Saras). She was chosen for her tireless work at raising public awareness of the plight of marginalised communities - and in particular, women - in Malaysia.

The award ceremony will take place in Tokyo on 3rd December 2011.

More info on Yayori Award,please visit the site: http://www.wfphr.org/yayori/English/top.html



SOURCE

Malaysian woman activist wins international human rights award (Malaysiakini/YouTube)

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Malaysian activists released

The Malaysian activists known as the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) 6 were released on Friday evening at 5.30pm Kuala Lumpur time, CCI sources say.

The release came shortly after Dr Michael Jeyakumar had announced that he was beginning a hunger strike.

Ex-YCW Sarasvathy Muthu was among those released.

The six PSM members - Choo Chon Kai, Sarat Babu, M Sarasvathy, M Sukumaran, A Letchumanan and Sungai Siput parliamentarian Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj - were initially detained on suspicion of planning to wage war against the King, reports Malaysiakini.

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Malaysian ex-YCW Sarasvathy arrested

Former Malaysian YCW leader Ms Sarasvathy Muthu is one of six activists who have been detained under Malaysia's harsh internal security laws.

Sarasvathy and five other leaders of the Socialist Party of Malaysia are being held under the Emergency (Public Order and Crime Prevention) Ordinance on the grounds that they were the "main movers" of the pro-democracy rally on July 9, 2011, organized by Bersih (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections).

They had initially been criminally charged with "preparing to wage war against the king," evidently based on their possession of T-shirts with portraits of dead or long retired Communist Party leaders. After they were released on July 2 on bail, they were immediately re-arrested under the Emergency Ordinance, Human Rights Watch says in a statement calling for their release.

Known as the PSM 6 r the EO6 those arrested are: Michaeal Jeyakumar Devaraj, PSM member of parliament for Sungai Siput; Sukumaran Munisamy, PSM Central Committee member; Letchumanan Aseer Patham, PSM Sungai Siput branch secretary; Choo Chon Kai, PSM international coordinator; Sarasvathy Muthu, PSM national deputy chairwoman; and Sarat Babu Raman, PSM youth chairman.



"The Malaysian government has replaced its bogus criminal charges with the hammer of preventive detention to lock away political opposition leaders," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The PSM 6 should be immediately released whether or not they organized the peaceful July 9 rally."

Lawyers for the detainees told Human Rights Watch that the "PSM 6" have been held in solitary confinement, subjected to continual and intense interrogations, and blindfolded both in detention and during transport to meet with legal counsel. Habeas corpus hearings, to determine the lawfulness of their detention, are scheduled for July 22 in Kuala Lumpur High Court, yet it is unclear whether the police will permit any of the detainees to attend.

The police and the Attorney General's Chambers are expected to argue that detention under the Emergency Ordinance is both justifiable and lawful. Malaysia's Emergency Ordinance permits the police, on their own initiative, to hold anyone they deem a threat to public order for 60 days. The home minister may extend detention for two more years, renewable indefinitely in two-year increments.

Twenty-one other PSM party members were released on bail on July 4 after being charged under the Societies Act with acting on behalf of an unlawful organization and under the Internal Security Act with being in possession of subversive documents. Available information indicates that the 21 are being prosecuted for engaging in their rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly, Human Rights Watch said. Their release on RM8000 (US$2,670) bail appears grossly excessive in light of their alleged crimes.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia is a legally registered political party and currently has one member in the national assembly. When it began its campaign on June 24, its agenda included promoting participation in Bersih's July 9 march and educating Malaysians about issues the ruling government coalition were not addressing, such as combating government corruption, calling attention to growing income gaps, and raising concerns about increased ethnic tensions and deteriorating democratic institutions in the country.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the Malaysian government to end the use of all preventive detention legislation, including the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, the Internal Security Act, the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985, and the Restricted Residency Act 1933.

"It's high time that Malaysia's leaders recognize that democratic governance means engaging with the political opposition rather than throwing them in jail," Robertson said.

Sarasvathy Muthuhas joined the YCW during the 1980s where she organized textile and food industry workers in Jelapang and Tasek factory level and also the state level to form a union body involved in picketing and strike.

From that time, she has travelled to various parts of SEA to represent Malaysia at conferences. Saras is actively involved in women’s groups networks such as AWAM and WDC in discussing the challenges of the female working community.

As a full time activist in Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), Saras contended in the 2008 elections for DUN Jelapang. Even though she lost, she served the constituency with a big heart, Malaysia Today says.

VIDEO

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