Why does Humanitarian Law need to be taught in Malaysia?
That’s an interesting question. If you look at the legal obligation of the country, Malaysia also has the Malaysia Geneva Convention Act and the Geneva Convention clearly states that it’s an obligation of the state to disseminate IHL as widely as possible, among the military and to a certain extent civil society. I think it’s good because though Malaysia is peaceful, you cannot deny, we’re very close to Thailand, look at Thailand, Indonesia, and look at Philippines. We’re surrounded by situations of different levels … whether it’s internal unrest or disturbance. And at the same time I think students are bombarded with a lot of things in the newspapers, TV and everyday you read something about Iraq, about Afghanistan, so they can make the connection with the International Humanitarian Law… he remembers what he learnt in the classroom and starts looking at these issues from a humanitarian perspective. Has Malaysia strictly followed the Geneva Convention Act 1962 which it implemented,
