Farish bluntly stated that Ethnic and religious discord is serious in Malaysia

February 17, 2011

John Malott hinted, Farish bluntly stated that Ethnic and religious discord is serious in Malaysia

by Aidila Razak@http://www.malaysiakini.com

Race relations in Malaysia is dangerously close to absolutely breaking down if racial politics is not kept in check, said a political scientist.

According to Farish Noor (left), a lecturer at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Malaysia’s patterns of politics seem to reflect that of other countries which have suffered severe racial and religious discord.

“I’ve spent more than 10 years studying dysfunctional countries and I believe we are going down the path of countries like Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

“I have seen enough race and religious riots to see that Malaysia is close to going down that path,” he said. Indonesia endured from severe rioting in 1998, involving severe attacks against the minority ethnic Chinese, while religious reprisals against the Hindu minorities were seen in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Speaking at forum on public governance by the Perdana Leadership Foundation and the National Professors’ Council today, Farish added that the problem remains with the politicians.

“It is the behaviour of politicians which is maintaining this (situation). We know that each party has its racial vote bank and several attempts to form non-racial parties, like Gerakan, have failed.

“How do we get politicians to act logically and rationally even though it involves the risk of losing votes?” he asked the audience of about 80, made up mostly of academics.

Make racial politics illegal

Agreeing with Farish was panelist Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas  who said that one way to do away with racial politics is to outlaw it. “What we are doing is untenable even in the medium run. We want to have 1Malaysia but what do you do in politics is totally separate,” he said.

Megat Najmuddin, who is also an UMNO disciplinary committee member, added that race relations is also frail due to the existence of vernacular schools. “If you want to talk about 1Malaysia, do away with racial politics and vernacular schools,” he said.

Similarly, Farish noted that it is impossible to build national consensus with children growing up in several different streams of education.

“You can’t build a singular nation with five education streams. This is the case even in the more developed countries,” the erudite academic said.