When Asia Centre announced its opening in 2015, M Ravi was one of the very first people from Singapore to reach out. He said the Centre’s human rights mission aligned with his own, and wanted to engage with the Asia Centre’s regional approach to democracy and human rights.
At the time, Ravi was facing intense legal pressure, negative media publicity, internal tensions within the local death penalty movement and challenges to his law practice – all contributing to mixed public opinion on the death penalty in Singapore.
In Asia Centre, he sought a respite, an opportunity to extend his networks to the regional level and regain the self-esteem he saw being denied to him in Singapore.
Here is a list of his contributions to commemorate his work through the Centre.
On 14 May 2016, he spoke at Asia Centre’s seminar “Cause Lawyering: Advocating for Justice”. He urged young lawyers to see legal practice not as technical work alone, but as a public responsibility rooted in ethics and courage. The event also marked the Bangkok launch of his book “Kampong Boy”, a personal account that connected his lived experience with the pursuit of justice in Singapore.
Later in the same year, he returned on 15 September 2016, to Bangkok to speak at Asia Centre’s 1st International Conference “UPR in Southeast Asia”. There, he argued for the need to strengthen regional engagement with international human rights mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Using the arguments of his presentation at the conference, he contributed a chapter, “The Abolition of the Death Penalty in Southeast Asia: The Arduous March Forward”, in Asia Centre’s edited volume “Universal Periodic Review of Southeast Asia: Civil Society Perspectives” (2018). The chapter provides a comparative analysis of death penalty laws and practices across five Southeast Asian countries through the lens of the Universal Periodic Review, highlighting legal frameworks, state justifications and reform trajectories. It examines how international human rights mechanisms, civil society engagement and domestic legal reforms shape the arduous path toward abolition in the region.
M Ravi returned for Asia Centre’s 5th International Conference “Hate Speech in Asia”, 7 October 2020, where he moderated a panel on hate speech regulation and moderation. He noted how laws in the region are often used to suppress expression rather than protect communities.
His engagement with Asia Centre continued, this time as a trainer for the 2022 regional programme for parliamentarians entitled “Business and Human Rights in Southeast Asia”. During his session, Ravi worked to equip parliamentarians with practical tools to align national policies with international standards on Business and Human Rights, believing structural change required informed lawmakers.
21 August 2025 was to be M Ravi’s last formal engagement with Asia Centre. He spoke on the panel “Rethinking Technology for Collective Impact: AI in Society and the Path Ahead” during the Centre’s 10th International Conference “AI and Governance in Asia”. He presented his paper, “Southeast Asia’s AI Boom: A Human Rights Perspective”, which called for technology to serve and push the cause of human rights rather than deepen inequality.
Before his sudden demise, Ravi had registered to attend Asia Centre’s National Convening on “Climate Disinformation in Malaysia: Appropriating Indigenous Peoples’ Entitlements”, at Asia Centre Media Hub, Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia, 7 January 2026.
Over a period of nearly ten years and through his different engagements with Asia Centre, Ravi sought to share his expertise in a regional setting – an opportunity that was not available to him in Singapore. Even with his death, controversy continues to surround his anti-death penalty legacy.
Nevertheless, Asia Centre is proud to have supported M Ravi in a small way and recognises his contributions.
