Fighting For Rights
PT Foundation & Grassroots Activism In Malaysia
A Practical Case Study
By Jean-Michel Piedagnel
Objective: Fighting for the right of HIV prevention and against prejudice for people living with HIV/Aids and empowering the most vulnerable communities.
Target groups: Sexual workers, transgender, drug users and Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in Malaysia
PT Foundation (PTF) does HIV prevention, care and support work in Malaysia, it has just celebrated its 21st anniversary. Their main target groups are those most exposed to risk of HIV infection: transgender, sex-workers, drug users and MSM. This is an Community based Organisation (CBO) which is confronted everyday with the contradiction of a typical south-east Asian conservative society with an additional dash of religious tradition. In Malaysia sexual issues are still very taboo, not to mention sex changes (a very different attitude than its neighbor, Thailand) and drug users. The penalty for drug trafficking is death.
The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development support and finances PTF’s condom distribution programme, while the police continue to raid premises where they are distributed and use them as evidence of improper conduct, although nothing legally prevents the distribution of condoms.
The needle exchange programme is one of their most successful, and praised as such by authorities, although it is completely illegal to carry out such activities.
While two male staff have been denounced to the authorities for living under the same roof, this year PTF organised a highly visible prevalence study amongst MSM with banners and 20 laptops in Kuala Lumpur’s cruising grounds, sponsored by Amfar and the Ministry Of Health.
Certainly their most visible success in the fight for HIV prevention was the 300 volunteers from all walks of life who distributed red ribbons and literature on HIV prevention in the one of the most popular shopping mall in town for two days to celebrate World Aids Day. 45,000 ribbons were distributed; the campaign included a full show with traditional Malaysian dances performed by transgender dancers. The public support and appreciation was the biggest victory and signal that mentalities are changing.
But in contrast, do not expect any open public debate soon or a more progressive official government position on condom distribution for a long time, not until there is a broad enough consensus in society to address these topics.
While PT Foundation has learned to deal with these contradictions, the representative of a Scandinavian donor was rather puzzled by the lack of clear positioning from the government. Although he understood the need to support this kind of activities he was worried about the diplomatic tension it could create between the two countries.
He certainly struggled to reconcile the position of the police and the Ministry of Woman around condom distribution. He left our meeting giving us the impression he will not fund the programme to avoid trouble. But the reality is that for the most part the government would welcome their financial support but they will not be able to take a public position.
As for PT Foundation, they know that it’s all about grass root work, about explaining and patiently championing their cause with consistent programmes on the ground. Going to places where their beneficiaries go and constantly fighting for the right to safer sex. They know that the Act Up kind of action will inevitably backfire and damage them, but slowly their cause is getting more support and eventually they will achieve their aims.
In neighbouring countries, similar topics are being pushed too and the status quo is being challenged by trying to build support for the most progressive causes. In Indonesia, people are getting organized to push the government to tackle corruption; women’s position in Islam is a hot topic too. In Malaysia, racial discrimination and the environment are high on the agenda. In the Philippines, poverty and corruption are two major topics for engagement and even in China, the protection of cultural heritage and anti- corruption campaigns are gathering strong momentum.
In these countries, a very active middle class is building the largest consensus possible to force its ideas to progress and influence governments without challenging the political system, which is not their ambition anyway. This kind of political action is challenging for westerners to fully understand.
I feel this also where MSF with its strong European political tradition, is struggling to understand the way democracy is in action in the vast majority of the world; and how our form of engagement or speaking out is inevitably considered as an unacceptable form of western style hegemony.
See the first part here.
