The crux of the problem

Lim Sue Goan, The Malay Mail

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the government would unveil the “national reconciliation solutions” over the next few months, but will such solutions dispel the various conflicts now standing the way of interracial relationship in the country?

Unless you go in from politics, it is not going to be that easy to fix the problem.

Ethnic differences have widened by the day in the manipulative hands of irresponsible quarters. Even the PM himself is concerned about this, writing in his blog that we need not reprimand these racist extremists as we only need to ignore them and deny them of any chance of promoting or recognizing their ill-intentioned ideas.

Sure enough if we give a cold shoulder to these people, they may just drop silent after some time. But under the existing circumstances, racist remarks still command a very good market in this country, while media are more than eager to follow up in great depths and lengths. As such, this is obviously not the right way to tackle the problem for the time being.

There is no way we should downplay the effects of such extreme remarks, as the thinking of these people have eaten into the heads of many of us. A more horrendous fact is that some adults have even instilled such radical thinking into their young, planting the seed of instability among these kids.

Consequently, there is an urgent need for the government to condemn these extremists in the strongest terms, and deal with them in accordance with the Sedition Act.

Only by taking unwavering legal actions against these people will the government convince the public that it is sincere and determined to preserve racial harmony in this country.

If we allow them to go on playing up all sorts of issues, they will start challenging our laws fearlessly, gaining broader support along the way and tearing up our society in the end. What has happened in Thailand should serve as a valuable lesson for all of us here, that when the government no longer receives due respect from the public, any reconciliation solution will be automatically rendered futile.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Joseph Kurup has proposed to do away with the “race” column in all official forms in a bid to promote greater national unity. However, his proposal has come under heavy fire from rightist outfits, which dismissed the proposal as harbouring ill motives to abolish the special rights of the Malays.

At a unity dialogue in Melaka the following day, grassroots leaders echoed, as Utusan endorsed.

It was unbecoming for a simple proposal to remove the “race” column from official forms to bring on a string of “conspiracy theories,” and for so many to fall for them. This shows that prejudices are still very much alive on this land.

Looking from another perspective, the National Unity Consultative Council has organized a total of 18 dialogues across the country to get public feedback in drawing up a national unity blueprint for the nation. Nevertheless, with the ruling coalition still persistently carrying on with its ethnic politics, we are sceptical whether they are serious in implementing the unity blueprint.

Taking away the “race” column from the forms will not bring the nation closer if ethnic policies are not stopped decisively.

Such ethnic policies have seriously polarized the nation, so much so that even well-educated school teachers have been mentally poisoned by them.

Mahalakshmi, a 12-year-old Indian girl who looks like a Chinese, was denied her MyKad last November, her birth cert forfeited. Her problem has remained unsolved even though she later received her MyKad.

Last month, a young Chinese man with a dark skin had his birth cert taken away from him when he applied for a MyKad. Judging a person from his or her skin colour has divided the nation.

The rift between Hindraf and the government has made national reconciliation an even tougher goal now. Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy resigned from the post of deputy minister in the PM’s Department recently, citing the government’s failure to help the Indian society.

If the government helps the poor irrespective of race, it wouldn’t be necessary to appoint an Indian leader to take care of the Indian society, or a Chinese leader to take care of the Chinese community.

Ethnic politics is a double-sided sword. While it ensures that the ruling coalition stays in power, it also severs the harmonious racial relationship we used to enjoy in this country. Many political conflicts have had their roots in racial politics.

The key to national reconciliation lies with the BN, which must forego or dilute its racial politics agenda to create a more favourable atmosphere for reconciliation.

The racial problems in this country are no longer confined to class conflicts arising from income disparity. Politics is the source of all evils.

Malaysians can no longer count on politicians to solve their problems. We should instead try to influence people around us, encouraging them to back pluralism, thus compelling our politicians to embrace non-ethnic politics.

National reconciliation will never be achieved with ethnic politics still in charge.