Commentary Mustafa K. Anuar

WE have been here before. There were numerous programmes initiated by successive governments – via the National Unity Ministry or department – over the years with the purported aim of forging national cohesion and harmony.

National Unity Minister Halimah Mohamed Sadique recently announced that the current government will launch the National Unity Action Plan at the end of the year.

It is aimed at fostering community unity and goodwill in our diverse society that is in line with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s supposedly inclusive notion of the Malaysian Family.

She said it was an overall blueprint that included the Perpaduan Kindergarten Early Childhood Education Plan 2021-2030, the Rukun Tetangga Community Leadership Empowerment Plan 2021-2030 and the Keluarga Malaysia Unity Plan.

In addition, the ministry is creating the Kelab Rukun Negara modules in schools and the Rukun Negara Secretariat at the university level.

That is a lot of programmes planned by the government. While this may suggest the government’s keenness to foster harmonious relations between the ethnic communities in the country, it nonetheless begs the question as to how different its plans are compared to those of the previous governments.

It would be useful for the government to determine the weaknesses and failures of the previous plans so that similar mistakes can be avoided. Why did they fail and what did they achieve, if at all?

Indeed, a better plan should be crafted based on the lessons learnt from the past.  

What achievable goals does the government have in mind for the short-term? What other objectives to attain in the long-term?

A plan with national unity in mind should obviously be grounded in social reality so that there is no disconnect between the plan and the situation on the ground.

How does the government, for instance, intend to address occurrences of racial bigotry and religious extremism in recent times, which can scuttle the goal to attain national harmony?

There are politicians who fabulously indulge in the politics of race and religion to serve their narrow interests. How does the government plan to address this problem? How would schoolchildren or even university students be taught to deal with this kind of toxic politics?

To reiterate, one should be mindful that the effort to foster goodwill and harmonious relations cannot be divorced from developments that are inimical to such positive objectives.

Does the government intend to review, for instance, certain ethnically discriminatory policies that do not sit well with the idea of citizenship and inclusive Malaysian Family?  

Shouldn’t institutional racism be dealt with if the government is serious about pursuing national unity?

The current epidemic has seen the B40 category being expanded with the entry of people from other social classes while the poor are reduced to being much poorer as a result of them losing jobs, incomes, as well as human dignity.

Surely the new situation on the ground would especially warrant policies that are not discriminatory so as to ensure the needy would receive the much-sought after government assistance irrespective of their ethnic origins.

Incidentally, the National Unity Ministry should play a prominent role in addressing issues or incidents related to ethnic relations, bigotry and religious extremism.

For example, the recent case of a Muslim preacher, who was accused of hate speech in denigrating religions other than Islam, would require the intervention of the ministry to put a stop to this crass impropriety. 

Whatever plan that is envisaged and crafted by the government, it has to address the obstacles to unity as well. Otherwise, the unity pursued will merely remain a nice topic for conversation. – October 17, 2021.