ALTHOUGH not as exciting as accusations of DAP members applying for land in Kelantan, or a Tamil school dispute in Sungai Bakap, last week saw Parliament debate Suhakam’s annual human rights report.

Issues pertaining to religious freedom, citizenship and peaceful assembly are among the persistent topics to be discussed in the august house, annually - a small step introduced by the Madani government since it took over the administration in December 2022.

Although seemingly insignificant to the casual observer, this is something civil groups and political activists alike have been pushing for, since the formation of Sukaham, 22 years ago.

This follows a series of small, gradual reforms long demanded, such as the moratorium on the death penalty in 2018, subsequently the removal of mandatory death penalty in 2023, previously held for 12 offences (out of 33 that carry the punishment).

Along with that, another law was passed that allows life sentenced detainees to appeal to convert their sentences to 30 to 40 years imprisonment, depending on the offence.

2023 saw laws passed to criminalise stalking, decriminalise suicide, protect mental health and many others. It even almost saw the unfair rule in determining a newborn’s citizenship following the paternal side balanced out, but that fight continues.

These are no small feats despite the lack of publicity, and law reformists led by Azalina Othman, and the new wave of young lawmakers, particularly from DAP – MPs like lawyer Syahrezad Johan, women’s right activist Syerleena Rashid, youth leaders like Kelvin Yii and Selangor assembly member Lim Yi Wei who has long argued on mental health issues, carrying on a long struggle that was at various points joined by even leaders from PN like Saifuddin Abdullah and previous BN leaders like Khairy Jamaluddin.

Also, the Certificate in Legal Practice exam is being reviewed, a prolonged issue since the time Umno leader Nazri Aziz championed it in the mid-2000s.

On the administrative side of things, efforts are being made to properly map urban poverty by introducing new standards aside from the Consumer Price Index that reflects a minimum acceptable standard of living, while many complicated processes are being simplified, like applying for affordable housing or government jobs.

The Human Resources Ministry for instance is spearheading dozens of initiatives to democratise TVET education, strengthen worker welfare and rights and push up-skilling and re-skilling programs in a big way.

Many local councils, such as Shah Alam or Kuching, have gradually shifted to electric vehicles – with the priority on conventional electric vehicles and the latter looking at hydrogen, even with an app to track your ride.

Apart from trending data centres, gloves and semiconductors, many smaller initiatives undertaken have started yielding results.

We now have new milk producers opening up, and existing ones expanding their farms, as well as solar panel manufacturers opening up here.

There is also an increase in digital nomads and boutique businesses, bringing in new ideas, concepts and cultures to our work environment.

Initiatives on mapping flood prone areas, sustainable energy, halal manufacturing, and many others are seeing slow and steady progress but are being drowned out by the noise and demands for quick and big gains, making these small, very significant wins almost completely muted.

Worse, people are unaware of the benefits they can reap from these programmes and projects.

We are, in this way, not only responding to mainstream and boutique trends, but setting new ones.

Change, in fact, does not always come in big sweeping forms, but small waves, incremental and slow in nature.

Instead of getting caught up in narratives and propaganda, we should celebrate and mark these wins, and demonstrate how this fits into the many roadmaps we have charted for the various socio-economic areas, to keep the focus of the country and its efforts on the big picture. – July 4, 2024.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.