Introduction
"Anwar Fazal doesn't just talk about change. He makes it happen."
This statement by Andrew Chetley (author of The Baby Killer Scandal) in a nutshell describes the life of Anwar Fazal. Activist, leading international civil society man, consumerist, health environmentalist, human rights crusader and a man deeply concerned about social injustices, Anwar Fazal's work has been recognised by international and national bodies.
Born in a small village, Sungei Bayor, Selama in Perak state in Malaysia in 1941, Anwar Fazal is fiercely proud of his roots and culture. His activism began as a student when he became the President of the National Union of Malaysian students. Since then he has been a civil servant in Malaysia, worked with various international organisations and a Senior Regional Advisor with the UNDP working to support the work of communities to improve the urban environment and promote good governance.
The diversity of his interests and concerns can be discerned from his speeches and writings over a period of 35 years. These have led him to receive international honours like the Right Livelihood Award, popularly called the "Alternative Nobel Prize" for his work in promoting and protecting the public interest in 1982; the "Global 500" Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988; the International Health Award in 1995 by the La Leche League for his work in promoting the welfare of mothers and children world over.
As founder and one of the prime movers of several local and global citizen's movement through the years, Anwar Fazal has strived and succeeded in bringing several issues to international attention from as far back as the 1970s.
The issues, ranging from consumer, health, environment to corruption and integrity are all a mark of his persona on the international scene. This website contains a selection of his speeches, presentations and articles is a tribute to Anwar Fazal's contribution to the many social movements he is involved in.
We are sure you will feel his presence in these pages and hope that they will inspire and motivate you to feel as deeply and act as strongly to bring about social change.
I wish to thank every body who contributed to this website: Juliet Maben, Rima Kashyap and Usha Abraham in Mumbai, India; Juliana Mokhtar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Mahmuda Fazal, Michelle Jambu, Rosha Forman, Sarah Amin and Susan Siew in Penang, Malaysia and most of all Anwar Fazal. I also wish to acknowledge the efforts of late Jerry Jambu who had methodically organised all the early speeches which facilitated this compilation.
Lakshmi Menon 2003