ABSTRACT
Civil society, which has grown appreciably in Malaysia in the decades since Merdeka, has a great role to play in advocating national reforms. But many causes championed by public groups—from ending corruption to protecting the environment—have been ignored by an increasingly powerful Executive. Government must hear, and heed, the voices of public groups. At the same time, organisations of civil society must speak with responsibility, not blind criticism, and recognise how the issues they advocate fit into the larger picture. In this article, published in the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre's Current Affairs Forum Series (No. 5, 1997), I discuss the rights, roles, and responsibility of civil society.
