Career
She is also a key activist of Suaram, Malaysia"s leading human rights organisation. Irene was one of the 106 people detained under the Internal Security Acting (Malaysia) in 1987 during Operation Lalang. As the Internal Security Acting is often used to silence dissent, Irene was targeted because of her work as a woman"s rights activist.
In the first 60 days of incomunicado detention, she claimed that she was beaten, humiliated and mentally abused.