No place for racists and racism
By R. Nadeswaran, TheSun
IN early July, the issue of the non-Muslim societies at the Klang High School was highlighted in this column. Within a week, the problem had been solved and on July 14, I wrote: Dear readers, for the sake of our children, please do not see this as a racial or religious issue. It is not. It is an educational issue which affects the minds and outlook of the children. View this from a parent who sees it as his children’s future and upbringing.
As I wrote on Monday, let’s not poison the minds of the young. We have been assured that is not a policy of the government. We will leave it at that and it is fervently hoped this was an isolated case. It could be the over-zealousness or mistake (whichever way you want to look at it) of one individual.
I had expressly said that the matter had been settled and it’s time to move on. The response to this from many readers was “it’s not over”. One wrote: Deep inside me, I cannot understand why you have considered the matter settled. Ghazali Shafie (the education department official) has acted on his own, and against the circular directed by Abdul Shukor (the former director general of education). So what has been initiated by Ghazali can be reversed because it was done against the spirit of 1Malaysia. But it cannot be disputed that the circular was outdated and against the spirit of 1Malaysia. The matter is NOT closed!
Hardly had the matter settled down, when the allegations of racism against the principals of SM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra in Kulai, Johor, and SMK Bukit Selambau in Kedah made the headlines. Last week, the prime minister himself decreed that racist remarks by anyone will not be tolerated and appropriate action would be taken. “We must adopt zero tolerance for those who play up such (racist) issues after checking the facts. Unity is a very important part of our nation building,” he said.
Every right-thinking Malaysian who finds racial slurs and innuendos repulsive will stand behind the prime minister in his quest to see racism thrown out of the window. As re-assuring as the words may be to many peace-loving and level-headed Malaysians, the sounds of the ultras and those who seek to push their personal agendas and political future may drown the voice of the prime minister.
But zero acceptance to racism may not be the long-term answer to the issue. The reasons have to be identified and solutions found. No amount of money spent by the National Unity Department is going to change things until the mindsets of people change. How did a nation that was a model to many young independent countries not too long ago end up a cauldron where everything is seen through racial or racist eyes? Where did we go wrong? How did we allow this trend to be so deep-rooted? Why have individuals and groups been allowed to trumpet hurt-speech?
This is not the time for some make-quick-money-scheme where individuals and groups can collect government grants to do an “in-depth study”. Those born in the pre-Merdeka era have seen the gradual change from being “fellow-Malayans” to “fellow Malaysians” to the extreme one-upmanship by certain quarters. We have seen the deterioration of race relations moving from the era of “abang-adik” to one of “master-slave”. We have seen respect for each other as individuals irrespective of race, religion or gender going down the drain because a few who want to feel superior have been pushing their weight and spreading their false beliefs unabated.
Yes, racism and racists have no place in our society. The majority of us accept that, but what about the minority who continue to spew messages of hatred and poison the minds of others? Such people have no place in society but then, the all important question is: Do the authorities have the will and determination to weed them out and punish them for their misdeeds?
