Stop judging and start learning

Why and how is it that Rosmah, as patron of MAC, is out of sync with the reality on the ground, putting the blame on the LGBT people for spreading AIDS in this country?

COMMENT

When the government scrambled to ban an annual LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) event a year ago, it was the beginning of a witch-hunt against this marginalised community.

Excuses were concocted by the authorities to put an end to any semblance of this group.

A year later and the federal government-waged war against the LGBT group continues.This time it is Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who has embarrassed the country when she alleged that homosexuals are to be blamed for spreading AIDS.

But then making Malaysia the butt of jokes is not new to Rosmah. Malaysians will recall her March 2011 comment that the earthquake-tsunami that battered Japan was the result of negligence in conducting environmental-friendly developments.

Needless to say, those comments earned Rosmah brickbats despite husband Najib claiming that her remarks were taken out of context.

A year on, Rosmah, who is patron of Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), has once again erred in the most damaging manner.

Her discrimination and ignorance on the “development” of HIV/AIDS in Malaysia is unacceptable, bringing to light the fact that after over 30 years, HIV/AIDS is still branded a “gay problem”.

Befuddling as it is, why and how is it that Rosmah, as patron of MAC, is out of sync with the reality on the ground, putting the blame on the LGBT people for spreading AIDS in this country?

Rosmah was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last week where the controversial Asean declaration of human rights was signed, and it was there that she defended the exclusion of protecting the rights of the LGBT people.

In an interview with the Phnom Penh Post she was quoted as saying:

“You know why HIV and AIDS occur… how it is being spread? Now the number of people suffering from HIV is alarming. What is it you want? Do you want to allow this…or do you want to contain it?

“You have to nip [homosexuality] in the bud. If you don’t, when the time comes and you have to stop [homosexuality], you will find it’s too late.”

Ignorance was definitely no bliss, not when Rosmah has got her facts wrong and her LGBT-bashing stand further affirmed international concern that human rights in Malaysia with regard to the marginalised group continue to be violated.

How on earth did Rosmah arrive at the conclusion that homosexuals are the “culprits” behind HIV/AIDS is anyone’s guess.

But it is obvious that Roshmah’s understanding of the issue of AIDS is at an all-time low; what is worrying is that she is perpetuating the myth that there is only one way of contracting HIV vis-à-vis sex and that HIV/AIDS is exclusively a “gay issue”.

HIV/AIDS no longer a gay issue

Rosmah is wrong in assuming that AIDS in Malaysia is the doing of the LGBT community. A chat with MAC would have educated her that HIV/AIDS is no longer a gay issue but has “progressed” into the heterosexual sphere.

The message has not reached Rosmah that it is not “who you are” but what you do that determines the fate of HIV/AIDS.

It is not about being gay or straight but rather the lifestyle that one leads – not practising safe sex, refusing to use condoms and intravenous drug users are the factors that have caused the explosion of AIDS in Malaysia which to-date has claimed 13,000 lives.

The 2011 statistics on HIV/AIDS show that 87,000 people are living with HIV in this country. With her prejudiced mind-set, has Rosmah, albeit lending “support” to MAC, turned her back on these victims?

It is predicted that by 2015, there will be 128,000 people living with HIV in Malaysia; will Rosmah insist they are all homosexuals?

Rosmah’s prejudicial and discriminating stance saw her being criticised by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. Its president Ou Virak described Rosmah’s comments as “bogus and extremely homophobic”.

“Come on, it’s 2012,” Virak said. “The world knows this is not true. This confirms our fears about the declaration – that these clauses were included to give governments excuses to not uphold universal principles of human rights.”

Clearly, it is time for Rosmah to stop judging and start learning and understanding the issues behind HIV/AIDS in her own homeland before addressing the global community.

Furthermore, as founder of the early childcare and education programme Permata, is Rosmah capable of educating the “young minds” when she continues to display a prejudiced and biased attitude towards people living with HIV?

AIDS is everyone’s problem

Just as flawed and perturbing is Rosmah’s description of human rights as “the rights of an individual based on what you believe in, based on your culture and your religion”.

Rosmah’s homophobic outburst is shared by Najib who six months ago described the LGBT people as “deviant aspects” who do not “have a place in the country”.

Despite the Rosmah-Najib anti-LGBT “conspiracy”, figures relating to the HIV/AIDS scenario in Malaysia are sure to send the shivers down one’s spine.

Rosmah obviously has no inkling that 870 children below 13 are living with HIV in Malaysia and that everyday, nine people in the country are infected with HIV.

Maybe she is just as unaware that one in three new HIV cases involve youngsters in their 20s or that every week, two Malaysians below the age of 19 are infected with HIV.

The numbers are alarming but just as disconcerting is the revelation that the real picture behind HIV/AIDS is not being grasped by educated minds.

Gone are the days when homosexuals became the hate target for the spread of HIV. The fact is that any one of us can get AIDS so educating oneself is no longer an option.

AIDS does not discriminate and we should not either. Gay, straight or bisexual, AIDS has no preference!

By the way, today is World AIDS Day. Does it make a difference to Rosmah?

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.