A monumental loss

DATUK Noor Farida Ariffin, a noted human rights activist who passed away after a brief period of illness on June 27 aged 76, was one of the very few practising lawyers inducted into Malaysia’s diplomatic service. She entered the service after a long stint in the judicial and legal service and a three-year stint at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, where she handled women and development issues.

The Malaysian Foreign Service had had some early recruits with a legal background – such as Tun M. Ghazali Shafie, Datuk Hussein Mohd Osman, Datuk Zainal Abidin Ibrahim, and Datuk Renji Sathiah – but almost no practising lawyers. Noor Farida and her contemporary, Datuk Azzat Kamaluddin, were rare exceptions.