YOURSAY | ‘Is there a real will to change this?’
No surprises: Unity Ministry study finds race, religion divide M’sians
Milshah: It’s good that there is a study on this. It serves as a confirmation of what we already know.
It is like when a doctor, who knows the patient is sick, still needs to run tests to confirm he is sick.
The next step would be how to prescribe the medication. Is it better to have no New Economic Policy (NEP)?
What if it causes social unrest or a repeat of the tragedy that resulted in lives lost?
Can people handle such changes or potential tragedy? People are emotional, but if something goes wrong, they blame the government.
The government must represent itself as the better and wiser person.
Is it better to have a one-school system or segregation based on race? It is not easy. Nobody wants to change.
They expect others to change but not them. The ministry can try to resolve it, but I feel the status quo will remain.
Very concerned citizen: What is the use of the National Unity Ministry when, in the first place, they cannot unite all Malaysians?
If you want to know the truth about how to unite, first treat all Malaysians equally.
No divisions between Malays and non-Malays.
The NEP policy should have been only for 30 years from 1969. Get rid of this policy.
Second, why are there only a handful of non-Malays working in government departments, including enforcement such as the police, army and navy?
Get in more non-Malays to fill up positions.
Third, why is there a quota system to take non-Malay students into government universities? Stop this policy immediately.
Once the above are done, then we will have a truly united Malaysia.
Fml: There is no point in having such studies and surveys.
The outcome will remain the same forever because the following are institutionalised and perpetuated by every government, ministry, education and other government bodies.
They are a constitutional decree of a special race with special rights, religious supremacy and language.
These and other factors will never change and will last forever in our country.
There is cautious hope of more unity and rights for all, moving forward in Sabah and Sarawak.
VioletQuokka1493: Just look at the way the government is run. Whenever a problem arises, it is turned into a race or religion issue.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim does nothing to stop it. In fact, the impression is that he surreptitiously supports the ketuanan (supremacy) attitude and solutions.
His supporters are adamant that Malaysia is a Muslim nation and will go to great lengths to prove it.
Anwar has done nothing to put Malaysia back on the correct course, the course charted in 1957, which is being sabotaged by successive governments.
The future is bleak. Malaysia is joining the club of doom.
ABC123: It does not take a lot of brains to know this (that Malaysians are divided) and its reasons.
First and foremost, many politicians used the race and religion card to further their own ambitions.
This includes Anwar, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
When faced with a problem, they would play the 2R cards. The fish rots from the head.
To set things right, the rakyat would have to be enlightened and condemn such politicians.
Otherwise, we still be talking about the same things a hundred years from now.
KK Voter: Missing from the National Unity Index (Ipnas) study list is the biggest factor of all: politicians.
The buck starts and stops with them. This is a disingenuous study conducted by politicians who conveniently ignore their own role in the problem.
Robbie98: As long as the majority in the country believes that the constitution allows and assigns special rights in perpetuity to a segment of citizens, we will remain divided.
As long as politicians from both sides of the divide champion̈ race-based politics, we will remain disunited.
As long as privileges are awarded by race and not merit, we shall remain disunited. I can go on, but it is just disheartening.
We don’t need a national unity minister or some fancy research to tell us that. We know, yes, we know. Is there a real will to change this?
The answer, sadly, is no. We know that too.
PurpleCat9452: Why bother mathematising unity when the data is useless in the real world?
What’s the point of the so-called ‘intervention programme’ if it only wastes taxpayers’ money and pretends to solve something?
Can you shut down all race- and religion-based affirmative programmes?
And instead of forcing everyone to tiptoe around personal sensitivities, why not just tell those who can’t eat or drink certain things to just stay away?
HJ Angus: Malaysia is the only nation that practises overly racist policies and then wants to reduce conflicts with a National Unity Ministry.
Go figure!
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