Is the Race Relations Act the solution?

SEPT 26 — A Race Relations Act (RRA) sounds good. But what sounds good may not be good. What sounds good may even be bad or redundant. In the case of the proposed RRA, I think it is a waste of time.

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We already have a Sedition Act. During 1987 when race relations were at a low ebb, the Internal Security Act was used in Ops Lalang to arrest many people. I remember the then PM issued a stern warning that no one should question the special rights of the indigenous people, who include our Malay brothers, and no one should question the right to citizenship of the non-indigenous people, the Indians and the Chinese.

I remember, and correct me if I am wrong, that there was some sort of understanding that in return for not questioning the special rights of the indigenous people, the non-indigenous people would not be called "pendatang".

Recently, we had a politician from a dominant party uttering this word and it resulted in a big hoo-ha in the country, raising tensions and temperatures. Police reports were made, state-level political ties were suspended, a photograph was torn but the Sedition Act was not used.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has spoken about "selective prosecution”. This case clearly gives the perception that there is indeed selective prosecution and perhaps "selective persecution" as well. The latter was perceived because of the use of the ISA to detain a newspaper reporter who was clearly innocent, an MP who did not say or do anything to threaten internal security and a prominent blogger whose fault was only to write reports that may or may not be true but which would not have been constituted as "threatening internal security”.

So, there is really no point in having an extra law, the proposed RRA, if there is selective prosecution as well as selective persecution. It would only give Big Brother an extra means to selectively arrest or silence certain groups, including opposition politicians and those in civil society fighting for righteousness and good governance.

It may be even used against the MCA, MIC or Gerakan, but certain "warlords" will never be touched.

Relations between people can only be slowly fostered in an environment that is free of bias. If there is perceived favouritism and unequal treatment, animosity is going to result and genuine relations cannot be established. Relationships can only be built if everyone is willing to give and take. They cannot be built on the basis of "I take almost everything and you have to fend for yourself”.

In a marriage, you cannot have one spouse taking everything and the other spouse feeling dissatisfied. This one-sided relationship can never last, no matter how many functions you organise for them, or how many outings you arrange. It has to be based on equality, mutual respect and, as I earlier mentioned, a "give and take" spirit.

Why harp on race relations when the parties in the Barisan Nasional are almost all race-based? If they genuinely want to see a united Malaysia, they should discard their race-based ideology and become one big multiracial party.

Leaders are supposed to lead by example. But now we have leaders who are uttering "race" and stressing "race" day in and day out. If leaders are harping on race, do you think people would suddenly cease talking about race and huddle together?

What we need to do to foster better race relations is very simple. Do away with the perceived unequal treatment. Do away with the race column in every form that we need to fill.

If the poor need to be given special help, by all means do so, but it must be on a basis of "need". Only then would each community feel that it is not being left out, because the poor in each community would be given special care, just like we give special care to our handicapped brothers and sisters.

Logic tells us that the rich need less help; so let them compete on their own, on a level-playing field, so that they can be toughened up to face external competitors. Only through this can Malaysia reinvent itself, and play catch-up with those nations that were once, not too long ago, behind us — countries like Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Dr Hsu Dar Ren is a medical doctor and blogs on socio-economic issues; he believes that a fair and equitable society with good governance is the key to the future of this country.

- The Malaysian Insider