Overview of the point discussion
Being students of Albukhary International University, most of us have to leave our home countries and become foreigners in Malaysia. As time passes, we have experienced many things when it comes to human rights that have been discussed in Introduction to Civil Society course. In fact, we have rights that cannot be denied no matter where we go. However, we may or may not be able to enjoy those rights though there are affords from International laws trying to protect our rights. Hence, we decided to discuss the article #6 “You have rights no matter where you go” of the UN declaration of human rights to fulfil our course requirement-panel discussion. There are three main points that we were able to discuss in this panel discussion. Firstly, the rights have been able to be implemented in pursuit of this declaration. Secondly, the limitations imposed by various countries that jeopardize this declaration, and last but not least, the main factors that have caused the contradiction in the implementation of this article by different nations.
2. The process
At first we formed group of five members including me A Bi Dah, Srey Sokkanitha Mok, Shanaz Thaha, Sharifa Hashim and Dolma Lama. We all agreed for Kanitha to become our moderator and the rest are panellists. As we had to choose the most suitable topic for our presentation, we found some disagreements. One by one topic was brought into the discussion such as volunteerism, women empowerment, and human rights and finally we decided to choose one of the rights in the UN declaration of human rights: “You have rights no matter where you go.” We agreed to divide panellists into two sides, Shanaz and I would talk about the recognition of the right and another one with Sharifa and Dollma would talk about the contradiction. However, we were not able to come up with the questions and the mains points during tutorial, so we met up again to discuss about the proposal for panel discussion.
So as to make the discussion more perfect, we decided to have a rehearsal. Many times we wanted to meet up, but we were not able to do so because each member was too busy with our own schedules and it’s was hard to find free time all together during week days. Finally, we had a rehearsal on Sunday morning. We all agreed to show a video regarding the topic at the beginning and to change our tactic by having only one round discussion instead of two rounds like what we wanted before. We did not have much disagreement; we just gave feedbacks to each one on what we need to talk more and what we don’t so that we could stick to the main points and the time given.
3. The Implementation
We had our panel discussion at 2:00pm on Monday, June 24th. We were able to come to class on time and start the discussion on time. This is one of our strengths. Though there were few students watching us at the beginning, we were able to go through the discussion smoothly. All the main points were also discussed thoroughly by explanations and information from researches as well as our experiences and the examples from our own countries. We satisfied that the presentation could finish within 30 minutes as expected. I’m happy that our members were very responsible and gave full supports to each other before and during the panel discussion.
I’m not satisfied much about myself as I had to rely on the notes because I was the one talking about the international laws of protecting foreigners’ rights and I couldn’t remember all of the information. Another weakness is that I was so nervous and did not speak naturally like other members.
4. Learning/Reflection of the Panel Discussion
I have done many researches on this topic and it gives me more knowledge regarding human rights. In fact, I have got lots of useful information from this panel discussion. I have known more about international human rights laws and what actually happen to foreigners in my country as well as in other countries. I also know more about some factors, such as culture and government policy that affect the implementation of article 6 of human rights. After all, I realize that there is a large gap between the rights that international human rights law guarantees to foreigners and the realities that they face.
On the other hand, as my fellow members answered the questions from the audience, I also got some information about UN partner – China. Indeed, it helps me more in learning.
5. Conclusion
Panel discussion is a good opportunity for me to learn more about Civil Society. I’m able to get more knowledge and reflect on what I’m good at and what I need to improve. I hope this will help me more in the learning process in the future.
6. References
Cole, D. (2003). Are Foreign Nationals Entitled to the Same Constitutional Rights As Citizens? Retrieved on June 08, 2013 from http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/297
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2006). The Rights of Non-citizens. Retrieved on June 08, 2013 from http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/noncitizensen.pdf