The Malaysian government deserves congratulations for reforming its policy of quotas in favour of ethnic Malays. There is a pleasing symmetry in the fact that Najib Rajak, the current prime minister, is overhauling ethnically-based policies that were introduced almost forty years ago by his father, Abdul Razak.
Now if Malaysia really wants to jump head first into the 21st century, can I suggest another reform – abolish the law making sodomy a crime. This law is not some irrelevant and forgotten anachronism. Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the Malaysian opposition, is about to go on trial for allegedly having sex with a male aide. He has already served a long jail term after being convicted of sodomy in 1998 – a conviction that was over-turned in 2004. The new case is being tastefully referred to in the Malaysian press as “Sodomy Two“.
Anwar insists that he is innocent and the victim of trumped-up, poliitcally-motivated charges. His devoted wife has long been one of his keenest defenders. But in any case, it is awful that the government of a modern state, has such a backward law on its statute books.
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