IN 2015, US president Barack Obama made a visit to Boise, Idaho, the day after his State of the Union address. At the time, Idaho was one of the two most strongly Republican states in the country. Obama, being a Democrat, did not see that as an obstacle to his visit. As he put it: “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America, there’s the United States of America”.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim could be taking a leaf out of Obama’s book in his efforts to unify Malaysians and reconcile racial and religious divisions between states governed by Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional. 

The press and pundits alike would slice and dice our states according to political affiliations but rare is that conflict that cannot be solved by the breaking of bread together.  The PM will host an open house each in Kedah, Penang, Negri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Selangor over a span of a month. Three of the states are Perikatan Nasional territory. His opponents have called the events “wasteful” and a “ruse” to win votes in the elections in the six states. Perikatan Nasional chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said “the celebrations can no longer be separated from political motives” and that they are “clearly excessive and outrageous in addition to being untenable”. 

These criticisms launched at the PM and his government are missing the point. If Takiyuddin would take the time to see the events from a different perspective, maybe he would see that they are an exercise to heal the wounds of racism and religious extremism that have plagued our nation for so long. These Hari Raya get-togethers are necessary for the government to demonstrate that it wants to celebrate with the people, no matter who they voted for. Anwar’s crossing of what are perceived to be enemy lines is in reality the holding out of an olive branch to the people who might not have voted for him but who have nonetheless contributed to nation building.

The tour also suggests that the PM is consistent in the government’s position about leaving no state behind. In one of his first moves in office last year, he approved an allocation of RM100 million for flood mitigation work to Kelantan and Terengganu. He went on to hand out RM1,000 financial aid to the head of each family affected by floods and RM10,000 for each family that has suffered the death of a member. He has also made regular visits to other states and engaged with the state departments.

PN politicians characterising the events as a political ploy are in essence standing in the way of racial and religious harmony. They will attempt to block any exercise of the government to unite the nation because their entire election campaign depends on hate and division.

It is neither wrong nor wasteful of the government to celebrate special occasions with as many Malaysians as it can. In fact, it is the government’s duty to indiscriminately provide reprieve to the rakyat, whether it be through welfare assistance, infrastructural change or something as simple as a Hari Raya open house. – April 28, 2023.

* Madihah Akmal 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.