Use diversity to unite, not hate

Making every small issue a racial one and promoting divisiveness is not good for the country. Those who use politics of identity as a weapon must be stopped.

Strength in diversity: There are hundreds of thousands of flags that have been correctly put up across the country, including in Chinese new villages like the Bukit Merah New Village in Ipoh and tourist spots like the Kuala Lumpur Library (below). — RONNIE CHIN/FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

MALAYSIA certainly deserves better as we celebrate 68 years of independence next week.

We remain stuck in the toxic politics of race and religion, with some politicians unable or unwilling to let go of these addictions.

Over the past one month, we have watched sadly deliberate provocations that keep race and religion at the heart of all political discourse.

It is not even subtle but an open incitement mainly aimed at winning the votes of the predominantly Malay audience.

For decades, political actors have skilfully used identity to entrench themselves in power, distract from governance failures, and stir emotional loyalty.

Today, the stakes are higher than ever because the Prime Minister leads a multiracial party, PKR, with the three main races represented in the top echelon. Unfortunately, though, it does not command the majority of seats in Parliament.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is stuck in a difficult position of having to deal with partners in the unity government, which includes former opponents, some of whom have now started to test his leadership by taking shots at his government.

There is a general election in two years and these parties wish to remain relevant in the eyes of their members and voters.

There are Umno Youth leaders who have also crossed the red line with their constant intimidating postures and remarks.

The minority races, especially the Chinese and Indians, find these racial actions disturbing.

The series of incitements over upside down Jalur Gemilang in some shops, unfortunately owned by small-time Chinese traders, have marred this year’s celebrations.

Instead of advising these businessmen to put right the national flags, these people chose to confront them aggressively and angrily, to put up videos inviting racist comments, to lodge police reports, and stage protests.

This is not the first time that the Jalur Gemilang has been wrongly put up but this is probably the first time that we’re seeing such bullying tactics.

It is commendable that the Attorney General’s Chambers has warned Malaysians against vigilantism in cases involving the improper display of the Jalur Gemilang, amid the furore over Umno Youth’s protest in Kepala Batas, Penang, over the matter.

The AGC said vigilantism could include raiding premises, spreading personal details, or making unfounded accusations on social media.

The AGC also warned the public against provoking or issuing threats against the individuals or organisations concerned.

There are hundreds of thousands of flags that have been correctly put up across the country, including in Chinese new villages, Chinese associations, and Chinese vernacular schools, yet these political thugs chose to pick on a few wrong ones and amplify it to become an explosive issue.

It that were not enough, last week, we read of a Bersatu leader posting a “delayed” congratulatory post on the appointment of Comm Datuk M. Kumar as the director of Bukit Aman’s Criminal Investigation Department, saying “this shows that Malaysia has started to embrace the Malaysian Malaysia concept’’.

The politician also cited the promotion of Datuk Johnny Lim Eng Seng as a lieutenant general in the armed forces.

He claimed if the concept continued to be accepted by the government, Malaysia could soon have its first non-bumiputra Chief Justice, Armed Forces Chief and Inspector General of Police.

Anwar has rightly rebutted that, pointing out that the majority of high-ranking police officers are Malays, including the IGP, deputy IGP, and other directors of various departments.

Comm Kumar, who has an excellent track record, is just the CID chief and it is bewildering that he has been targeted.

How can we even encourage non-malays to join the armed forces and police if they perceive that they have few chances of being promoted to a senior post?

In June, a PAS grassroots leader also made a racist statement about the appointment of the three-star lieutenant general in a social media post, warning of “the political rise of the nation’s largest minority group”.

He also wrote in his Facebook posting of a hypothetical news story of Malaysia welcoming its first ethnic Chinese PM.

Both these small-time leaders have the same script and narrative, aimed at insinuating that the PM, the head of a multiracial party, is compromising with the other races.

Rather than fostering unity in a multiracial nation, identity politics has devolved into a toxic tool for populism.

Every minor issue – from music festivals to retail products – is now open to being framed as an attack on faith or culture.

What should be policy debates are routinely hijacked by identity-driven outrage. The real consequence? A shrinking space for reason and a deepening divide in our society.

Unfortunately, this reliance on racial and religious narratives comes at a high cost.

First, it undermines economic development. Malaysia continues to lag in innovation, regional competitiveness, and talent retention.

A system that prioritises ethnic patronage over meritocracy is simply unsustainable in a globalised world. This is 2025 and we are going to welcome 2026 in a few months but we are still stuck in pre-1957.

Second, it paralyses governance. While the rakyat struggle with rising living costs, declining education standards, and stagnant wages, political attention is disproportionately consumed by manufactured controversies over identity.

Something is hopelessly wrong when PAS’ Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Ahmad Amzad Hashim was more interested in questioning the PM on his choice of batik when Anwar was presenting the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) in Parliament.

The MP posted a message on his Facebook page asking why Anwar chose to wear a batik shirt with an Indonesian design instead of Malaysian batik.

Then, with egg on his face, he had to apologise when it was pointed out by batik entrepreneurs that Anwar had indeed worn local batik attire.

We would have expected the PAS MP to post questions related to the 13MP as well as to make detailed proposals.

Instead, he was more interested in the PM’S shirt. Even if Anwar chose to wear something from Indonesia, should it be an issue?

Then there was PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, the Marang MP, who implied that Kuala Lumpur’s problems were due to DAP and the unity government, reciting a poem in Malay containing the line: “KL is problematic due to DAP, Pakatan Harapan, and friends.’’

It is most unfortunate that taking simple, lazy political pot shots rather than pushing serious proposals backed with data has become a habit of these incompetent politicians.

Third, and perhaps most worrying, this reliance on racial and religious narratives erodes trust.

The constant emphasis on ethnic and religious differences chips away at the social fabric.

Interethnic solidarity – a strength Malaysia once celebrated – is being replaced with suspicion and withdrawal.

Malaysians are not asking for too much. We just want leaders who prioritise shared progress over communal fear, and a national conversation that values evidence over emotion, ideas over identity.

We need to discard the old narratives and old politicians. But our voices need to be louder so they can be heard. Do not be afraid of political bullies and racist politicians.

Racial division may still win elections, at least in the short term, but we must end it.

If Malaysia is to truly move forward, we must retire the politics of identity as a crutch for power.

Let race and religion be part of our Malaysian identity – but as something that unites us because of common values, not weapons in our politics.

By Wong CHUN WAI National Journalism Laureate Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai is the chairman of Bernama. The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.

Source link

Related posts:

Jalur Gemilang and the rise of political bullies; Malaysian flag hoisted upside down heats up debate ahead of national day celebrations

We are Malaysians first, not Malay first!

Promise of change slow in coming

 

Accusations of betrayal and unfulfilled promises of reforms have been flying fast and furious but, behind the scenes, efforts are being pursued to realise the pledges made.

Protesters holding yellow signs with phrases such as ‘Don’t get comfortable’ and ‘Clean and fair’ while chanting ‘Tuntut Reformasi, Tolak DNAA, Rakyat Bangkit’.

100 protesters march in Bersih rally for reforms

Bersih rally shows something wrong with Madani govt'

THE Bersih march to Parliament was a sad sight.

Once a powerful voice that was able to flood downtown Kuala Lumpur with a sea of yellow-shirted people, the rally crowd on Tuesday morning was so sparse it was almost outnumbered by police personnel and media people.

Cynics say it is living proof that Bersih was basically a vehicle used by Pakatan Harapan to overthrow Barisan Nasional and that the NGO has been used and discarded like tissue paper.

But Pakatan politicians are the ones who ought to be embarrassed for what some reporters described as “hiding inside” Parliament instead of facing the protesters.

The tables have turned and it is ironic that Pakatan is now on the defensive.

Only six MPS emerged to meet the protesters among them being Sungai Petani MP Taufiq Johari who said his party, PKR, has not abandoned its reform ideals.

“Don’t dwell on the size of the Bersih crowd. It is the message they carry that is important and we support that,” he said.

Taufiq pointed out that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also spent about 40 minutes in his Parliament office to listen to the Bersih delegation and also to explain that reforms are still his priority.

A year is quite impossible to implement the sky, the moon and the stars that Pakatan had promised during the election campaign.

Tiktok is flooded with videos of Anwar and also Rafizi Ramli slamming the then government over the ringgit and the economy when they commanded the ceramah stage.

Pakatan had promised to “save Malaysia” but businessmen are staggering under the shrinking ringgit.

The government is under pressure and DAP has been labelled as MCA 2.0 for their silence on issues, including the never-ending saga of the Teoh Beng Hock death which the party had used to inflame Chinese sentiments.

It has been a thorny period as the past returns to haunt Pakatan leaders.

Actually, Pakatan politicians said so many silly things on the ceramah circuit and their supporters have only themselves to blame for swallowing everything without chewing.

“To be fair, the unity government is now dealing with a bit of what each party promised because it took a few months for the new partners to find the chemistry of working together.

“But they have not sat down to talk about a combined manifesto, to tell people that this is what we will do as a coalition government,” said lawyer Ivanpal S. Grewal.

Much credibility also went down the drain over the preferential treatment given to the corruption cases of Umno leaders Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Ivanpal said that while the average Malaysian is concerned about the rising cost of living, the noise among the chattering class is on issues like equal allocation for the Opposition, political funding and strengthening the judiciary and the Malaysian Anticorruption Commission.

“None of the Pakatan leaders seem to be thinking about how the unity government wants to be perceived in the eyes of the public and Anwar cuts a lonely figure defending his government’s policy.

“The government is failing on the communication front,” said Ivanpal.

Investors and businessmen, said Ivanpal, expect an economic roadmap by now.

The mantra that reform takes time may sound like a lame excuse but legislative reform is not like cooking Maggi Mee.

Also, it is not that the government is doing nothing about it.

“We are working on it and we want it to be properly done,” said Selayang MP William Leong who chairs the Parliamentary Select Committee on Human Rights, General Elections and Institutional Reform.

The government has tackled the low-hanging fruits like laws on sexual harassment, child protection and amendments to the Suhakam Act.

Leong, who was also there to meet the Bersih protesters, said Bersih then under the chairmanship of Thomas Fann was the first NGO that the select committee met in April last year.

This was followed by discussions with more NGOS like Tindak Malaysia, Suhakam, the Civil Society Organisation, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) and groups connected to refugee and prison reform.

“Everyone, especially the NGOS, have their pet reforms but we also have to prioritise. I told the NGOS that we are new cooks who have just come into the kitchen and there are 10 pots boiling away on the stove.

“The devil lies in the details. For instance, separating the Attorney General’s Chambers and Public Prosecution cannot happen overnight. We have to look at the legal side as well as the administrative implementation.

“I understand people are impatient that change is not coming fast enough but even when we buy a house, it takes three years to be completed. Let me say this – the changes we promised are on the way,” said Leong.

Anwar has turned out to be more lively than his immediate predecessor Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob. He is also less aloof than Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and certainly younger and more energetic than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But he is surely aware that the last time ordinary people complained so much about the ringgit and cost of living issues was when Najib was still in charge and that is not a good parallel.

Truth be told, the non-malays had wholeheartedly supported Anwar because they believed they were voting for a more equal Malaysia. It is a painful realisation that the Chinese tsunami could not deliver the New Malaysia they expected.

But time is on Anwar’s side. He has a supportive King on his side and another three years to work on delivering the change.

The Star by JOCELINE TAN The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.