This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 4, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Shahrir Samad refused to accept a memorandum from a group of activists on the National Security Council (NSC) Bill in parliament, saying he felt insulted by a remark from Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) Backbenchers Club chairman was approached by the group, which wanted the bill’s passage stopped.

But he appeared piqued when Ambiga, president of the National Human Rights Society (Hakam), asked if he really cared about the people.

She asked this after Shahrir seemed hesitant to arrange a meeting between BN backbenchers and the activists about the bill.

“You said I don’t care about the people. I’m not going to stand here and be insulted by you,” Shahrir said before handing back the memorandum to Ambiga and entering the House. Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap also snubbed the handing over of the memorandum as she walked right past the activists waiting at the Dewan Rakyat entrance.

Among the activists seen yesterday were Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah, Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism executive director Cynthia Gabriel and Lawyers for Liberty director Eric Paulsen.

They handed copies of the memorandum to lawmakers, demanding that the bill be voted out and withdrawn.

The NSC bill gives wide ranging powers to the prime minister to declare a “security area” and order arrests without warrants.

Pakatan Harapan earlier yesterday branded the bill a “death sentence to democracy”.

“It will change Malaysia forever,” the coalition said. — The Malaysian Insider