Poll blames it all on politicians

(NST) KUCHING: An online poll has blamed politicians for the racial polarisation in the country.

About 92 per cent of the respondents to the poll conducted by Malaysiapollster agreed that many politicians were playing on narrow racial issues.

The poll, titled "Racial Harmony in a Balanced Society", was launched by Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar on Nov 30 last year. It closed on Feb 15.

The poll said six per cent of respondents disagreed that politicians were the cause of racial polarisation and another two per cent said they were not sure.

Polls analyst Goh Leng Chua said yesterday that 44 per cent of the respondents agreed that one factor to preserve racial harmony was to get rid of politicians who played the race card.

"Undoubtedly, racist remarks exploit and incite the emotions of those who feel threatened in their communal and peaceful coexistence with other races.

"The other (30 per cent) of the respondents felt that education and inter-racial social activities such as festivals, sports and inter-marriages play an important role in harnessing peace and harmony."

Goh said the government's affirmative action favouring a section of the community towards the creation of a balanced society should, according to 76 per cent of respondents, be given a time-frame, for example, until 2020.

He said about 90 per cent of the poll's respondents opined that abolishing race-based political parties would result in greater social harmony and understanding among the various communities.