BARELY had the Jawi brouhaha subsided, some right-wing groups threw a hissy fit about the Chinese New Year deco put up in a school in Puchong.

Before anyone can catch their breath and say “enough of this nonsense!”, the Ponggal controversy cropped up.

It is as though there’s a concerted effort to get the three major ethnic groups in this country all worked up. The introduction of Jawi in the school curriculum had nfuriated large segments of non-Muslims, particularly the Chinese.

The Puchong school CNY deco issue was stirred by a Malay nationalist group, while Ponggal is largely celebrated by the Indians.

It is one thing for fringe groups like Dong Jiao Zhong or leader from little-known Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia to crave for media soundbites to push whatever twisted agendas they harbour. But it is totally unbecoming for an elected representative to stir racial sentiments solely for political expediency.

Pasir Puteh MP Dr Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh, speaking in his capacity as the PAS Dewan Ulamak head recently, further fuelled sentiments when he accused Human Resources Minister M. Kula Segaran and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy of forcing Muslims to attend Ponggal celebrations.

If the Pasir Puteh MP bothered to read properly what was said by Kula and Ramasamy, he would know that they had only clarified that Ponggal was a cultural celebration, not a religious one.

The duo never criticised the Education Ministry’s circular forbidding Muslim pupils from attending the festival, at least not in the tone nor fashion described by the PAS leader who was clearly out to score brownie points. Kudos to Kula and Ramasamy for being level-headed while tackling this thorny issue.

The Pasir Puteh MP was clearly being mischievous, bordering on the criminally seditious. It would be naive on the part of Nik Zawawi not to dismiss the dire impact his highly nuanced statement would have on an already racially charged socio-political landscape.

Having said that, it is time the government step up efforts to enhance cross-cultural understanding. Given how easy it is for Malaysians to fall for half-truths about other races, serious efforts need to be made to break the racial silos which had restrained us from reaching out to one another.

If we are armed with better knowledge about other communities’ practices and traditions, it will be easier to peel away the layers of mistrust and prejudices that had become a stumbling block in achieving true unity some six decades into Merdeka. It will definitely be harder for the likes of Nik Zawawi to stoke racial hatred and sow discord.

This can be the acting Education Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first task: to arm our pupils with sufficient knowledge about the different cultural and religious traditions in this country.

For a man who had been blamed for the ills of racial distrust during his earlier tenure as PM, the least he can do is to make amends and set racial unity in the right path at the tail-end of his prim ministership. – January 18, 2020.

* Mohd Hisham Tarmizi reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.