A.J. Surin, the Founder of Humanists Malaysia, is a human rights and constitutional lawyer with a focus on issues such as “apostasy”, the separation of religion from state, statelessness, and the rights of atheists in Malaysia.
Amazing. In one word, that is how I would describe the tour, the International Humanist Conference & the General Assembly of Humanists International that was held in Singapore on the 30th, 31st of August and the 1st of September. As the Founder of Humanists Malaysia, the northern neighbour of Singapore, I was deeply honoured when the Humanist Society of Singapore invited me to be the master of ceremonies for the morning session and the moderator for the afternoon session for the conference. During the General Assembly, when Andrew Copson, President of Humanists International, announced that Humanists Malaysia was ratified as a member of Humanists International, I suddenly felt like I was in a great, big family of like-minded people. It’s so important for secular individuals to know that we are not alone and we have a family who will support us when things get challenging.
Additionally, during the tour of Singapore’s Harmony in Diversity Gallery on the 30th of August, my mind was blown when I saw that the latest census of population of Singapore found that 20% of Singaporeans had “no religion”! In Malaysia, if the non-religious were to be newly acknowledged as a substantial part of Malaysia’s religious demographic, a civil riot may most probably break out in the country, because in Islam, apostasy is a ‘grave sin’. To me, as a citizen of a Muslim majority country, to stumble upon Humanists International is like finding the ‘best kept secret’ of humankind. For us in Malaysia, as I kept informing the participants of the conference as well as the delegates of the General Assembly, the concept of humanism is completely alien to Malaysians. We at Humanists Malaysia represent the glistening specks of sand in the vast beach of Malaysians who do not have an inkling about what humanism and humanist values mean. Additionally, the concept of atheism is totally reviled in Malaysia, which is experiencing a substantial shift towards Islamic conservatism even as I write this, even though moderate Muslims in the country do not desire to admit so & even though non-Muslims in the country would like to disregard it. Non-Muslims make up 36.5% of the population, a sizeable minority nonetheless but this minority comprises of disparate races who have different religions. The sudden appearance of a call by Federal Government politicians in the last year or so to not discuss race, religion and royalty (Malaysia has a constitutional monarchy) further fetters the freedom of speech & the freedom of (and from) religion in Malaysia.
Because of this conservatism in Malaysia, Humanists Malaysia has to be extremely careful in its activities in Malaysia, especially since humanism & atheism are concepts which are unknown by the populace, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Also, as a human rights lawyer, I can tell you that if the perception is that Humanists Malaysia is attempting to deconvert Muslims, we will definitely be criminally investigated under a myriad of laws that will leave most objective observers to conclude that Malaysia has no freedom of (let alone from) religion & belief, which is correct, even though most thinking Malaysians will be hard-pressed to admit so, because of legal, political, racial & cultural constraints. Humanism, in Malaysia, is like “an idea whose time has come”, to borrow Victor Hugo’s words, not because Malaysians are ready to accept humanism or to implement humanist values in Governmental policy, but because the alternative to our current moderate, multiracial and multireligious Federal Government leadership would be a coalition of parties led by the Malaysian Islamic Party whose main objective is to make Malaysia a fully Syariah, Islamic state; which may come to pass in the next general election because of the shift towards Islamic conservatism in Malaysia.
I believe that Humanists Malaysia has a gentle role to play in ensuring that Malaysia becomes more moderate and ultimately, in the long-term, we have a role to play in making Malaysia a humanistic society. Undoubtedly, it will be a very long journey but it is a journey we feel we must take. That said, we take note of what Lao Tzu said centuries ago: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Personally, I was a closeted humanist for many, many years. However, after living life and observing how other people live their lives, I have come to the conclusion that religion divides humanity and the belief in gods certainly does not further the evolution of humankind. I hope that the work that we do at Humanists Malaysia will outlast the current members and myself because humanism is important for Malaysia and undoubtedly, for the rest of the world.