PUTRAJAYA, Jan 25 — A soon-to-be-completed electronic mapping (e-mapping) system will make it easier to spot, monitor and manage the recent rapid rise in race conflict hotspots nationwide.
According to National Unity and Integration Department (NUID) director-general Datuk Azman Amin Hassan, his outfit has already identified four such areas so far, most of which are concentrated in Selangor. They are Kampung Medan in Petaling Jaya; Kampung Sungai Terentak in Hulu Selangor, near Rawang; Bukit Botak, Selayang Baru; and Kampung Pokok Asam in Jelutong, Penang.
Race relations in multicultural Malaysia have been steadily declining in recent years and reached an all-time low in January last year when some 10 houses of worship were attacked following a controversial court ruling allowing Catholics the right to also use the word “Allah” beyond the Muslim context
Race and religion are tightly linked in this country of 28 million people, where some 60 per cent are Malay and Muslim.
The attacks, together with increased reports of racially-tinged remarks by high-ranking civil servants, have dented the global country’s image as a tolerant nation.
The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government has been scrambling to reverse the damage that its political rivals say have caused investors to shy away.
Once completed, the 12-layer e-mapping system developed by the NUID with the expert help of University Utara Malaysia (UUM) will show the geographical, social and political lay of the land at a glance in an easy-to-read colour code.
“I call it the traffic light system,” Azman told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview this week.
Conflict-free zones will show up green, he said.
Less dangerous tension spots to be marked in yellow will warn the authorities to get ready; and dangerous racial hotspots will show up red on the digital map, he said.
“We want to be proactive,” said the 57-year-old who had mooted the idea five years ago, and roped in help from the Inspector-General of Police who had agreed to send one of his men from Bukit Aman to help set it up.
Azman said the map’s purpose was to enable enforcement authorities, including trained mediators, to move into the conflict areas and diffuse the situation quickly and efficiently.
An initial group of 300 people comprising NUID officers and Rukun Tetangga volunteers were trained last year.
Another 300 people, which will include community leaders, will undergo mediation training this year.
“How to feel the pulse of the nation? This is how we do it,” he said, his voice swelling with satisfaction at the accomplishment.
“My dream is to have a team [of mediators] in each state,” said the civil servant who will be retiring in May.
A “hotspot” is an area where domestic or community disputes have spiralled out of control and turned racial, Azman explained.
It is marked red if more than five fights have broken out in a month, he added.
No area has yet been designated red. The four hotspots identified earlier were also not classified as such.
According to Azman, Kampung Medan — where an inter-racial clash between Malays and ethnic Indians were reported to have caused six deaths in 2001 — still ranks as the No. 1 hotspot in the country.
He described the Petaling Jaya slum as a hotbed of racial tension, and said that three fights had broken out between Malay and Indian groups there last October.
Azman noted that temperatures in Kampung Sungai Teratak had risen when the majority Chinese residents, worried for their safety and health, opposed Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) over the national power utility company’s plan to build high-tension power cables through their village.
The other two conflicts started out as land disputes, he said.
In Bukit Botak, a decades-long dispute came to a head in 2009 when the villagers cried foul over the state’s takeover of their land, claiming the titles had been given to outsiders instead of settlers.
In Kampung Pokok Asam in Jelutong, the Malay-majority residents had complained of racial bias by the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled state in a redevelopment project.
Azman added that the e-map’s use was not limited to efficiently combat conflict and foster unity but could be used for election work.
However, the system now could only show the situation on the ground in each state separately.
Once fully integrated, the system will be able to display what current issues are on the ground nationwide at a glance.
Asked if the e-mapping could be accessed publicly, Azman signalled that it was unlikely as the information was “sensitive”.
“If we mention the places, the property prices will drop because no one wants to live in a conflict zone,” he said, giving an example to illustrate what he meant by “sensitive”.
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