Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 24 (1): 447 - 470 (2016) ISSN: 0128-7702 © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES Journal homepage: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/ Article history: Received: 15 January 2015 Accepted: 19 May 2015 ARTICLE INFO E-mail addresses: kajianakademikft@gmail.com, mfaizalmusa@ukm.edu.my (Mohd Faizal Musa) Human Rights Lesson from Selected Malay Proverbs Mohd Faizal Musa Institute of the Malay World and Civilization (ATMA), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ABSTRACT Human rights culture is relatively new in Malaysia. Thus, locating and unearthing the values of human dignity from traditional heritage would help to enhance understanding on modern human rights. An attempt to connect traditional values buried under Malay proverbs with contemporary sociological indings should be made. In order to make this attempt successful, George F. Mclean’s formulated framework ‘human rights and the dialogue of civilizations’, together with the categorisation of Malay proverbs by Syed Hussein Alatas, was chosen. Mclean’s formulation looks into the needs of civilisations in dialogue, values and virtues, cultures and traditions and the ontological foundation of the many faces of humanity. Syed Hussein Alatas’s categorisation of Malay proverbs helps to select suggestive and ‘reprimandative proverbs’ that contain human rights values. This essay intends to identify features of human rights in traditional society, and by doing so, challenges the notion that human rights are a Western product and incompatible with the culture and religion of Islam. Keywords: Human rights, cultural relativism, Malay proverbs, universal declaration of human rights INTRODUCTION In 1997, Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian premier at the time, advised other Asian countries not to blindly obey the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) due to their lack of Asian values and their use as a medium of super powers to discriminate against poor nations. Sufice to say, Mahathir’s call did not gain as much support as he had hoped for. A fact that has always been ignored is that there were also Muslim and Asian voices present during the drafting of the UDHR. Among others, Zafrullah Khan, a Muslim and Wellington Khoo, a Chinese, both participated in the discussions. Even though Malaysia, as