ONLY a national narrative can counter the rise of right-wing politics, a forum on race and religion heard today.

This national narrative must include the stories of all races, they said, and must be accompanied by cultural policies that are consistent.

“Malaysia needs a national narrative that is inclusive if it wants to rid itself of race and religious politics,” said lawyer Syahredzan Johan at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia forum today.

The political secretary of Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said the narrative should be based on a national perspective and avoid treating people different regardless of race, religion or status.

“There should be no exceptions and everyone must hold on to the law, federal constitution and human rights,” he said during the “Future of race and religious politics in Malaysia” forum in Bangi today.

The forum was organised by University Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS).

Syahredzan said the new government’s “Shared Prosperity” proposal, which is based on fair distribution of wealth, was a good idea.

“But it must do more than just be a slogan. 1Malaysia was a decent, idea, too but it didn’t go beyond that,” said Syahredzan.

UKM political science professor Helen Ting also pointed out that Malaysia’s political scenario had been shaped by policies that were contradictory.

“Some of these include the New Economic Policy (1971-1990), National Cultural Policy (1971) and the Islamisation policies of the 1980s.”

NEP came about after the 1969 race riots and was aimed at redistributing wealth, while the National Cultural Policy was an attempt to forge a new national culture based on the region and the Malay language. 

Taking the cultural policy as an example, Ting, said it caused anxiety among the non-Malays rather achieving its goal of integrating Malaysians.

“In the 1970s, for instance, there was very little interest among the Chinese for things like the lion dance. But after a minister suggested that the Chinese swap the lion for a tiger as there are no lions in Malaysia and trade the lion dance drums for local ones, the Chinese reacted by taking an even keener interest in the lion dance.

“Such policies were contradictory and did more harm than good for national integration,” said Ting.

National University of Singapore’s Azhar Ibrahim said that Malaysia should revert to the principles of the Rukun Negara.

“Like Indonesia’s Pancasila, Rukun Negara was a very important national philosophy. But very little is known about its origins or the rationale behind it.

“In Indonesia, there are many books written about the Pancasila and the rationale behind it is still debated and taught in schools,” said the Malay Studies lecturer.

For Azhar, the best way forward was to instil a stronger sense of citizenship among Malaysians.

“This has to begin in schools where students can learn to be better citizens. It’s not enough to talk about toleration. 

“Multiracial countries need to celebrate differences rather than tolerate. People are different but they can learn to be together if they embrace universal values,” said Azhar.

The forum was moderated by IKMAS’s Haris Zuan and also had Gerakan secretary-general Mah Kah Keong. – July 23, 2019.