MORE than 17 uses of the race and religion card by politicians and candidates have been recorded during the campaign of the Malacca election as of November 17, a youth group has revealed in its survey.

In a press statement, Architects of Diversity (AOD) said the offenders came from all three coalitions – Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.

The group said the usage included actions such as disinformation, misinformation and malinformation, and falsely manufacturing or associating a political, economic, or social threat with a racial or religious group.

AOD is a non-profit initiative that aims to bridge communities and identity groups among youth in Malaysia.

It launched the #KamiNampak campaign that brings together more than 30 youth volunteers to monitor election campaign materials on social media.

“It is high time politicians stop exploiting race and religion while campaigning,” said Mayna Patel, senior associate at AOD Malaysia.

“Focus on policies and what they can really do to uplift the people’s lives,” she said.

#KamiNampak said in one instance, Paya Rumput candidate Rais Yasin (Umno) reshared a TikTok video of Umno youth chief Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, in which he said: “Only Umno and Barisan Nasional can protect and defend our religion… can ensure the dignity and pride of our race are protected.”

The group said that DAP’s official social media pages also played up the religion card by uploading a post comparing the number of lucky draws occurring under BN and PN administrations with the caption: “You call yourself a Malay-Muslim government, but lucky draws increased to 22 times!!”

In another instance, AOD said Hawa Yaakub, PAS Women’s treasurer, was in a video saying: “We see in Uighur, Kashmir, where Muslims have been exploited, humiliated, tortured and oppressed. In Malaysia also, we have seen this starting during the 22-months of PH administration.”

AOD added that MCA’s Kota Laksamana candidate Benjamin Low was seen in an interview saying that “I don’t think MCA has become irrelevant… As there are a lot of current issues happening, most of us have forgotten about the past… As what we see today, our names still consist of three characters. If not, we will need to have an additional Malay character in our names. It’ll be such a pity.”

Jason Wee, co-founder of AOD Malaysia, said the country cannot move forward with national unity if our own leaders still use polarising strategies for their gain.

“The shadows of our colonial divide-and-rule tactic still run deep within our political system,” he said.

The group said the race or religion card is defined as political rhetoric employed to highlight differences between people and opposition towards groups and ideas.

“These narratives blame various groups for social problems, reinforcing negative stereotypes, and may create demand for policies that harm a specific racial or religious group.”

Malacca goes to the polls this Saturday. – November 18, 2021.