OBITUARY The Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) is deeply saddened by the passing of respected activist Irene Fernandez yesterday. She would have turned 68 on April 18.

We grieve with Irene’s family, friends and comrades in the people’s struggle. Without a doubt, she will be a big loss not only to the movement in Malaysia but to the global movement that is striving for a just and better world for the poor and oppressed.

But while we are grieving and hurt, let us also celebrate her life. A life that had been without a doubt full of meaning, a life that had been selflessly dedicated to the people’s aspiration to end injustice.

Irene had been hospitalised for a week after suffering a massive heart attack. Days before that, she had attended the annual steering council meeting of PAN AP, of which she served as chairperson. She had been instrumental in setting up PAN AP as an independent regional network.
                                
PAN AP will be forever grateful to Irene (left) for her untiring guidance. With her leadership and invaluable advice, we have been able to fulfill our commitment to serve the interests of small food producers, defend their rights and advance their welfare.

Words cannot describe how much PAN AP will miss her and her insights that firmly stood for small farmers, agricultural workers, migrants, women, indigenous peoples and other marginalised sectors.

Irene was a teacher turned social activist, a commitment she resolutely held for almost four decades. She was a co-founder and executive director of the Kuala Lumpur-based non-government group Tenaganita, which promotes the rights of migrant workers, among others.

She was also a member of the Steering Committee of the Asian Rural Women’s Coalition, the Coalition of Agricultural Workers International, Asian Peasant Coalition, and the People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty. She was also director of Caram-Asia and vice-chairperson of the International Migrant Alliance.

In addition, she was among the founders of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development and a former executive member of the Committee on Asian Women. She played a role in establishing various organisations for women’s rights and human rights in Malaysia.

Irene received numerous awards from various prestigious institutions in recognition of her work to stop violence against women and the abuse of migrant and poor workers.

These included the Human Rights Watch Award in 1996; the Amnesty International Award in 1998; the International PEN Award in 2000; the Jonathan Mann Award in 2004; and the Right to Livelihood Award in 2005. She was also a recipient of an honorary doctorate in social medicine from the Vrije University in Amsterdam.

Because of her work, Irene herself was a victim of government persecution. She went through a 13-year trial for highlighting a report that exposed the horrific conditions in immigration detention centres in Malaysia. She was convicted to a year’s jail in 2003 but this was overturned on appeal in 2008.


SAROJENI RENGAM is executive director of regional advocacy group Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific.