The first woman from a developing country to be appointed director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, Mazlan’s main role would be overseeing UN space activities.
Recently, Malaysia’s international reputation and standing had been at an all-time low, suffering repeated buffetings, whether in the Murray Hiebert case where Malaysia became the first Commonwealth country to jail a journalist for contempt of court in the last fifty years, or the Lim Guan case where a MP was jailed for defending the honour, dignity, women rights and human rights of an underaged victim of statutory rape, or the Anwar Ibrahim case with regard to the latest revelation of his arsenic poisoning and government inaction on his four police reports about corruption and abuses of power at the highest levels of government, or the worst national and international crisis of confidence in the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary in Malaysia.
Mazlan has done the country proud in at least allowing Malaysians to momentarily celebrate the achievements of Malaysians who have received international recognition and achieved excellence or distinction in their special fields of endeavour.
The best way to honour Mazlan for bringing credit to Malaysia is for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, gender or age, to make a commitment to purge the country of the adverse international reputation as a nation which does not honour and respect the basic freedoms of her people and the fundamental principles of a civil society - such as the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, freeom of expression, a free press and a meaningful democratic system.
(16/9/99)