I AM sure most Malaysians will heartily congratulate our cabinet on its swift rejection of racism and bigotry that were openly expressed yesterday at SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong I.

It is also gratifying that our Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah led a team of senior ministers to the school to support it in happily putting up decorations to celebrate the coming Chinese New Year.

The Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) vice-president, a lawyer himself, and the school principal claimed that the New Year lantern decorations were religious. By what stretch of their fertile imagination could they come to that unreasonable conclusion, unless they were seriously misinformed?

Nevertheless, it is useful for the cabinet and all right-thinking true Malaysians to try to understand the logic of these educated individuals. Many will ask whether they were motivated by racism and religious bigotry or sincere desires to promote national unity and harmony.

Hence we hope the lawyer and the headmistress will fully explain to the public why they had to protest against the happy, harmonious and harmless preparations by schoolchildren for the Chinese New Year.

If the critics are people who will seek to condemn simple acts of festive celebrations, what can we expect if other groups do the same for other festivals? Then there would be no national unity but just national enmity and disunity. Is this what we want for ourselves and our country? Can some Malaysians be so parochial, selfish, un-Malaysian and uncaring as that?

They do no credit to their own values or their groups.

In fact they let us down with their narrow and skewed thinking! 

This is why these critics should be pulled up and advised on what Malaysia stands for. It is a multiracial and multi-religious country  based on our fine constitution which promotes peace and prosperity rather that polarisation and enmity. Hence these critics should clearly explain to the public as to how and where the SMK in Puchong has  violated the constitution or else these critics should be penalised for causing so much national dissatisfaction in what is already becoming a more unhappy country! 

Blessing in disguise?

This sad incident can however turn out to be blessing in disguise if it had convinced us that we really need to have a harmony act. This has been often recommended and contemplated for so long but has not been followed up swiftly enough.

The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rightly viewed the Puchong SMK matter seriously.
 
We can only hope and pray that from now on ,the cabinet, the government, the opposition and all our patriotic Malaysians will resolve to act swiftly to nip in the bud all racist and bigoted activities, as the cabinet commendably did this time. 

We cannot carry on with these old reckless  ways of disunity. We have to be more decisive and purposeful in our  determination to fight racism and bigotry by the consistent application of the rule of law. The adoption of the proposed Harmony Law will be  supported by the vast majority of the rakyat as true Malaysians, who will no doubt be against un-Malaysian activities that  are related to racism and religious bigotry.

Conclusion

In this new decade we should not give in to anymore racism and bigotry. This we must do in the interest of our national survival and wellbeing, based on unity, peace, progress and shared prosperity.

Thus our congratulations to the cabinet on handling the Puchong case well. We must encourage them to continue and strongly sustain their efforts to promote greater national unity by more strongly fighting racism and bigotry, whenever and wherever they raise their ugly heads. 

Jom Malaysia!

*Ramon Navaratnam is Asli Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.