Posted on by Kit

Is Najib prepared to put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?

Although the Director-General of Education Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom has issued a circular dated August 26 to all school principals and teachers warning of action to be taken for racist remarks in schools, the absence of action against the two school principals in Johore and Kedah who had made racist remarks stands out like a sore thumb.

More than three weeks have passed and both principals had not yet been referred to the police, let alone the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

This is totally at variance with the “Zero tolerance for racism” belatedly made by the Prime Minister two weeks after the deplorable incidents involving the two school principals.

The Prime Minister should realize that the escalation of the rhetoric of race and religion makes a total mockery of his 1Malaysia slogan, one reason why there is so little national enthusiasm for the Natioal Month theme of “1Malaysia – Transforming the Nation”.

Is Najib prepared to give flesh to his “Zero tolerance for Racism” declaration and put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?

The Cabinet at its meeting this Wednesday could not make a more useful decision than to launch a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign to end the escalation of racist bigotry and religious extremism which has increasingly invaded the public space and consciousness.

The “Say No to Racism” should be a truly national one, rising above party politics, leveraging on the fact that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians regardless of race or religion abhor racial and religious extremism and mobilizing the good sense and goodwill of the majority of Malaysians to take a clear and unequivocal stand to denounce racism in any form.

15 Replies to “Is Najib prepared to put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?”

  1. Why no action against the two school principals ? Simple. They are still trying to “structure” a package which outwardly penalises the culprits, but silently rewards them for the “undue hardship”.

  3. Huh? I think by now most Malaysian have come to realise Najib don’t really stand for anything especially on issues that really counts and difficult.

    I will bet anyone that Najib’s popularity is no longer 70% and dropping fast. If he continues this way, he will find that when he goes into election, even promising a big check to everyone will not work because no one will trust that they will get their check.

  5. ///Is Najib prepared to give flesh to his “Zero tolerance for Racism” declaration and put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?/// – YB Kit.

    Our political system is communal based – principal parties UMNO, MCA and MIC represent, champion and fight for their different communities’ interests and canvass for votes based on racial appeals under the overarching umbrella of UMNO’s Ketuanan ideology.

    To ask him to say “No” to Racism is tantamount to say “no” to the very reason of existence of the communal parties UMNO, MCA and MIC and “no” to the political ideology of political dominance of majority group! How could he do that? He can never do that.

    Then against this back drop is ‘1 Malaysia’ meaningless?

    It is, in one sense, that the communal based character of the ruling parties should first be deconstructed before 1 Malaysia can be meaningfully asserted : as it is it is putting cart before the horse and for so long as the politician want to retain and canvass support from his racial community it will be race first and Malaysian second!

    1 Malaysia is, in another sense, not really meaningless if one looks at it as an articulation of an aspiration, a kind of hope in the future, to be worked at, something one uses as a barometer to test present political waters, so to speak, ie to say to measure whether, one’s community that one leads, and whom one tries to persuade to take tentative steps towards this paradigm shift in mindset, are ready or not for it….

    Until then (ie the final makeover and dissolution of communal based parties and politics, if it ever happens, which may be generational in time line), “zero tolerance for Racism” must necessarily take the realistic meaning as no tolerance for racist attitudes and remarks except when they are expressed in manner consistent with and in support of present political culture of Ketuanan, protected.

    This opens the way to selective application of Zero tolerance for Racism if one take sthe stand of Bapa NEP – that to argue for meritocracy, and by extension to challenge the existing political culture based on Ketuanan – is itself racist, which cannot be tolerated.

  6. Bro, pendatang tak dapat jadi bos. Pendatang hanya jadi kuli. Tapi tak apa. Pendatang kerja tekun, bikin banyak duit, lepas itu balik ke tempat asal nenek moyang dan jadikan tempat itu lebih hebat. Lebih hebat dari Malaysia. Tak perlu bising wahai pendatang sah. Kuat kerja. Buat manyak manyak duit. Tengok siapa hebat. Duit itu berkuasa. This is your consolation.

  7. The PM has just been reported by theMalaysianInsider Sept 6th under caption “Najib warns against questioning Social Contract” to having “reminded the people today against questioning provisions in the constitution, particularly those related to the “Social Contract”…..

    The expression “Racism” is by its ordinary grammatical and ordinary meaning, a reference to discrimination (or prejudice) based on race whether it relates to attitudes or political or constitutional systems or government policies….

    However if one cannot question against these, it logically implies that the kind of racism not tolerable will exclude and is intended to exclude entirely any racism or perceived racism that is sanctioned by, supportive of and consistent with these so-called “provisions in the constitution, particularly those related to the “Social Contract”.

    That way ‘1 Malaysia’ is sought to be reconciled with “Zero tolerance for Racism” for so long as both are subject to the overarching caveat – that no statement or action for so long as it is supportive of and consistent with certain “provisions in the constitution, particularly those related to the “Social Contract” can ever be racism!

    This incurs the danger of the Overzealous to argue that Kulai principal’s statements are also not “racists” as they are generally in line with the tenor of statements made by advocates of the Social Contract – ie using words like “pendatangs” to describe those who can go back to where their forefathers came from before that Contract if they take exception to it!

    It also paves the way for any Overzealous to distort matters further to argue that it is NameWee who is guilty of racism for attacking the principal’s statement (which is not racist).

    It lends justification to what TDM argues – that advocates of meritocracy are themselves racists for advocating something contrary to the spirit of the Social Contract and certain provisions of the Constitution.

    At the end of the day with such a huge Carve Out (by way of exception) of what is not racism, one wonders what do “1 Malaysia” and “Zero Tolerance for Racism” really otherwise cover??? (Probably only those who genuinely oppose racism so that we don’t know what racism means anymore).

  8. Rumors has it Najib is going after Nurul next. It looks like the hawks broke Najib’s back, not that he has much anyway. He is fighting for his political life. THIS at a time when the economy is slowing. Problems will crop up especially about money. Taib is not going to go and Sarawak election will be a disaster. The writing is on the wall. His goose is cooked.

  12. If Najib promises “zero tolerance for racism”, why is it that he did not take action against that police officer who asked the 51 year-old woman to go back to China while she was making a report at the Sentul police station after she was robbed?

  13. How can UmnoBputras, members of a race-based or racist (as claimed by MMK) party, support “Zero tolerance for Racism”?
    If they support, si liao lah, jialat 4 UmnoB, MCA, MIC – close shop lah

  14. The two school principals should be charged with whatever they want to charge Namewee. That is rule of law. The government cannot settle an offence against the law, if there was, by applying employment rules for some citizens, but applying to the court for others.

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