This year our very own human rights commission Suhakam will be 10 years old. The folks in Suhakam should be rejoicing. So must we? But both of us (them and us) are not. The reason being Suhakam want and need, to put it mildly, extra "cloud".

Suhakam as we recall, was established in Parliament under the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999. Gazetted on 09/09/99. It's inaugural meeting was on 24 April 2000 under the chairmanship of Musa Hitam, then Tan Sri now Tun.

Right from the beginning, the commission was viewed rather sceptically by many. For starters, it was formed by the government. The Mahathir administration then was under fire locally and abroad for alleged human rights "abuses". That was during the height of the Reformasi era of 1998/1999. Appointing a former Deputy PM as chairman only helped to provide detractors "bullets to gun down" Suhakam. And it was perceived as a "smoke screen" and nothing more than a "PR exercise". To make the government of the day looked good. Worst, critics called Suhakam a "toothless tiger".

Still to be fair, it must be admitted that the staff of Suhakam then ( as now) worked hard. Suhakam 's commissioners past and present are anything but toothless. Example...after the accusation against police for alleged brutality at a pro Reformasi gathering along the Kesas highway in 1999 an enquiry was held. It was a first for Malaysia as far as human rights matters were concerned. And the presiding commissioners did not minced words and even chided high ranking police officers.

Still the "toothless tiger' tag lingers on till this day. Despite strong stand on numerous issues and policies. Like urging the government to repeal the ISA. Recently Suhakam came out with a statement that the Jerit campaign should have been allowed, a stand which is clearly contrary to the one adopted by the police. Suhakam's policy on public assemblies is well known and the commission even made several proposals to the government way back in 2000 to solve this long standing issue.

It's not surprising that some quarters in government and the BN are accusing Suhakam as being "anti government”. But folks with a penchant for "conspiracy theory" see that as an attempt to "pull wool over the eyes" of the public. A sandiwara.

Obviously it's not the question of Suhakam "shouting" but rather the government taking heed. The present situation now is making the government look bad.

Suhakam wants the very act on which it was set up amended to make it more "authoritative". That should be the first step. Making Suhakam a real Malayan tiger should be part of the PM's reforms policy before he takes a bow in March.

In 2000 when I was privileged to have worked for theSun newspaper, I wrote an article saying the onus was on the Mahathir administration to make Suhakam truly effective in safe guarding human rights of all, Malaysians and non Malaysian alike.

Now I stand accused of being an old man who is fond of repeating himself. I don't mind. I say the same thing to the current administration. The onus is on you to do what the former administration didn't. (By MOHSIN ABDULLAH/ MySinchew)