PRIME Minister Muhyddin Yassin said identity politics, even though popular, has an adverse effect on interracial relations in multicultural Malaysia.

Muhyiddin said with the advent of social media, people are easily triggered on issues related to race, religion and income.

“Everyone has their own views but even so it should not bring about detrimental effects. For example, when it comes to the distribution of wealth in the country, the Malays, who form a big part of society, feel that not enough care has been given to their welfare.

“They feel they need more help. Although there is the New Economic Policy (for the purpose of aiding Malays) but when we look at it now, many leakages and bad things have happened, causing dissatisfaction to still exist,” he said yesterday at a dialogue session in Kuala Lumpur.

At the same time, he said the Chinese and Indian communities also feel the same way.

“There are also among them those who are poor and earning a low income. The same feeling also exists among them.

“The question now is, what policies and methods can the Perikatan Nasional government come up with to address these (problems so that) it is not seen to be race-driven or favouring one race while neglecting the rest?” he said. 

He said the shared prosperity policy is a 10-year plan to address such problems, including of wealth inequality.

He said the policy does not marginalise women or neglect family development. 

He said the Women and Family Development Ministry and its agencies exist to ensure target groups are not neglected. – Bernama, September 30, 2020.