KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — The latest racial incident sparked by Johor school principal Siti Inshah Mansor has raised concerns that the country may still be “divided” along racial lines.
Politicians and analysts have claimed that the conditions in the country since March 2008 have spiralled down to a level where “minority” groups like Perkasa are able to propagate a fear of “Malay insecurity,” and attach almost every issue to racial inequalities.
“Yes, we are divided between racial lines. Since the last general election, there has been a rapid escalation of racial rhetoric. It’s quite obvious where it is coming from, you have groups who are harping on the insecurities of the Malays.
“This is a dangerous move here, where these small groups are pushing racial lines to create a false sense of blame on other races,” said Merdeka Center director Ibrahim Suffian.
Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider that he did not believe that Malaysians in general were “intolerant” towards each other.
“I think for the most part, the average Malaysian is open and tolerant, although there are quite a number people who are ignorant of the culture and sensitivities of other races.
“The problem is when (these) people congregate in groups, they have different views and they start agitating the public to take sides,” said the pollster.
Since Siti Inshah’s alleged racist remarks were reported last week, a fan page in support of the principal was created on Facebook, where there has been an outpouring of support, with many “fans” believing that the allegations against her were “racial and ethnic.”
The commentators have defended Siti Inshah’s alleged remarks, saying that she was merely educating her students on the position of the Malays and other races in the country.
Pua blames the Najib administration for the ‘increase’ in racial division
Pua blamed the Najib administration for the “increase” in racial division.
“Yes, it’s pretty much about race. I mean, you have a Deputy Prime Minister (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) who refuses to espouse the 1 Malaysia concept, how do you expect the rest of the country to follow suit?
“The increasing racial stance is because politicians in Barisan Nasional (BN) are feeling defensive, this is their final attempt at remaining relevant,” Pua told The Malaysian Insider.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the reason why a racial debate on Siti Inshah had begun on Facebook was because the investigation into the principal’s alleged racist remark was taking “too long”.
“When an issue drags and there is an absence of information, there is a lot of speculation and it creates room for people to want to racialise the issue.
“The investigations are taking a long time, people begin to speculate,” said Khairy.
But the Rembau MP disagreed with the fact that the country had become divided along racial lines.
“I wouldn’t want to make that kind of generalisation. Ethnicity still plays an important role in forming our identity. But the problem occurs when you look around to racialise the issue,” Khairy told The Malaysian Insider.
The police are currently investigating the case under section 504 of the Penal Code for provocation, which carries a maximum imprisonment of two years, a fine, or both.
A total of 20 complaints have been lodged with the authorities.
On Friday, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also directed Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to set up a committee to investigate the matter.
Alimuddin had earlier said it was a misunderstanding that had already been resolved.
Khairy disagrees that the country has become divided along racial lines.
“Race relations in this country are still very fragile. Fifty years of independence doesn’t mean we are ready. The United States has been independent for hundreds of years and they still have problems with race relations.
“A lot of people today are saying things that are not thought through, saying that you can say whatever you want. I don’t subscribe to that thinking just yet,” said Abdul Rahman.
The Kota Belud MP lamented the fact that some politicians as well as rights groups were speaking on racial issues “blatantly” without thinking of the repercussions on race relations.
“This country must be managed by common sense. There are things that you can say but you should not say it, because it’s just common sense not to say it,” said Abdul Rahman.
The heated debate on race relations comes amid a Merdeka Center survey to gauge the sentiments of Chinese and Malay voters.
According to the survey, 69 per cent of Malays agreed that the Chinese community in Malaysia needed to appreciate the BN government for giving them citizenship rights, while 79 per cent of Chinese strongly disagreed with the statement.
It also showed that 59 per cent of Malays agreed that the “social contract” agreed on in 1957 was still relevant today, while 31 per cent of Malays disagreed.
But 71 per cent of Chinese respondents did not think that the social contract was still relevant, while 10 per cent still felt that it was still relevant.
A sample size of 1,003 respondents were interviewed by the Merdeka Center via telephone between July 6 and 25.
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