democracy discourse fellow
Jason Wee
Jason Wee is the co-founder of Architects of Diversity. Since founding the organization in 2018, Jason has established AOD as a leading youth-led civil society organization working at the intersection of youth, social justice, and education. At home in Malaysia, he designs and delivers bilingual curricula on diversity and inclusion to students, youth, and educators. Jason also works on primary research and strategic communication to support greater understanding of anti-discrimination, inclusive democracies and racial conflict. His work with AOD has been covered by all major media outlets in Malaysia and is one of the go-to resources for social cohesion among youth.
Country
Malaysia
Categories
Political Education
Anti-discrimination Campaign
Architects of Diversity
Where discrimination thrives, the exclusion of marginalized and minority groups not only harms the intrinsic rights of individuals, but also threatens the advancement of democracy. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia expressly provides under Article 8 that all citizens will be afforded equal protection under the law and that discrimination is prohibited based on religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender. However, weak to non-existent laws and institutions for non-discrimination have allowed for the proliferation of discrimination in various dimensions of social and political life.
Through continuing Architects of Diversity’s anti-discrimination campaign, the project aims to raise awareness and educate the public on the detrimental effects of discrimination, and to promote policies and practices that will help to eliminate it. The project consists of a series of a national survey, press event and a TikTok campaign. It will advance best practices to improve discourse on discrimination as well as bring the message to the doorstep of important demographics in Malaysia. It will also work with policy makers and government officials to advocate for laws and policies that will help to eliminate discrimination and promote equality.
At the end, the project will inspire more policymakers engaged in discrimination discourse, an increase in media coverage on discrimination and more youth participating in the advancement of anti-discrimination advocacy. Overall, the project creates an enabling discursive environment for anti-discrimination policies and attitudes.
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