“There is no impact of international standards on anything if it doesn’t contain any relevance to the culture you are introducing to. If you want to talk to me, talk in my language.”
After listening to these words on Asian Values and Access to information during a round table talk in Malaysian Parliament, I got curious of who this guy was, so immediately I googled him, and then I was shocked to find the details…

Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi has served as a consultant to many countries including Maldives, Fiji, Timor Leste, Afghanistan Iraq and Sudan, advising them on their constitutional documents. In 1991 as part of an Asia Foundation Project, he drafted the constitution of the Republic of Maldives.

He has helped to draft several international documents including the Kuala Lumpur Declaration to Criminalize War and a document for the UN on Protection for Places of Worship.

Dr Shad is alumni of Aligarh University where he did LLM, while his rest of the family moved to Pakistan, he decided to settle in Malaysia, since then, his achievements in Malaysian Constitution are marvelous.

After his epic presentation which really broadened my perspective on access to information, I met him behind the stage, introduced myself, and in those short moments, I learnt so much from him on Asian Values and the way we look at International standards on various things.

They say that a person who teaches you even a single word becomes your teacher…I guess meeting with such larger than life people are really destined, which you never plan yourself but destiny surely wants to reveal something to you in its own manner.

#TeachersDay #BarayLog #BarayLogonKiBariBatien