Stop using race and religion to destroy the nation

Of late politicians who are bankrupt of ideas to bring unity to a diverse populace for a better Malaysia are harping on racial and religious issues to stay relevant in society. It appears that politicking by some politicians in the country has gone overboard. Temples, mosques and churches are unnecessarily dragged into politics. Minor religious dissensions are deliberately erupted into volcanic spews. Sensitive issues are persistently fanned to win racial adherence at the expense of peace and political stability of the country. To these politicians as long as the ends justify the means they feel elated.

This trend does not augur well for a multi-racial country like Malaysia. Of late more bright Malaysians of all races are leaving the country for better opportunities and peace of mind. Over 300,000 talented Malaysians of all races have left the country in the past four years. In lieu of this, the country has accommodated over 2 million illegal immigrants many of whom are more interested in seeking permanent resident status and citizenship rather than show their loyalty to this country. Most of these immigrants who are given PR status or citizenship tacitly hold dual citizenship. We are losing our finest citizens to other nations and we are taking in the fickle crust from elsewhere.

Irrational politicking chasing away the reasonable and the talented

Irrational politicking, racial and religious squabbling and lack of opportunities are making the country losing talented human capital to other countries. When politicians use race and religion as tools for popularity and to secure votes to stay in power they are actually doing a disservice to the nation. Investors for sure are sceptical seeing the country embroiled in this grubby politics. The economy for that matter is not growing, the incessant capital outflow is affecting our economy badly, the standard of education has dropped, the cost of living to the poor has gone sky-high, the poor are becoming poorer and there are less job opportunities for graduates and school leavers. Crime and other social problems have soared and we are about to see a collapse of our social construct.

There has to be a stop to these politically hijacked racial and religious discords in the country before the country implodes into bedlam. There must be a political will to stop the use of race and religion to pit the people in our society. Patience to some has its limit. The continuous flaming of race and religious issues to divide the people for political gains will end up in the country becoming riotous. These zealous politicians should take a cue from what is happening in many other countries.

Many conflict-ridden countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe in the past and present have seen gruesome bloodshed due to racial and religious dissensions. Innocent people have been profligately decimated by the carnage and some of these countries have yet to totally recover from the mayhem. We have seen intra-racial and intra-religious conflicts escalating into killings and the destruction of places of worship and other vital infrastructure for the people. Such is the jeopardy when there are conflicts involving race and religion. Once triggered and inflamed, the blow cannot be easily doused with rationality.

Throughout human history, race, beliefs and religious strife have attributed to untold miseries to human beings. Enmities of this nature have also occurred in countries with people of the same race but of different social class and religious inclinations - within the broad spectrum of a single race or religion. Intra-racial and religious problems can be riotously divisive and have caused endless bloodshed in many countries. Many of the conflict-ridden countries are economically ruined and the people end up becoming paupers and refugees. The spill over effects of religious intimidation has even affected guiltless countries compelling them to put up with this horrifying blitz to protect their sovereignty.

Lest we forget, racial and religious harmony - not the economy per se - is the most significant social pillar that attribute to the stability of a nation. When there is racial and religious dissonance in a country whatever efforts the government of the day put in to enhance the economy will come to naught. Peace is thus paramount for economic stability.

What we do now affects our future

A constructive social image can be seen in some European countries. Despite having a population of different races and religion the tolerance threshold is relatively high among their people. One reason is that the people are instilled from young to accept the fact that human beings are born different and brought up in diverse ways - and we have to learn to put up with these differences in life. It is in their education system that these humanistic values are factored into. They are intently taught to grow up not only to respect but also to assimilate the good values found in diverse schools of thought and yet reserve the rights to preserve their individuality.

A civilised community would perceive that the game of soiled politics to win the hearts of the people at the expense of racial and religious accord is dangerous as it can wreak havoc in any society. Drifting into emotive politics can be a dangerous trend. When racial and religious overtones become too frequent a trend among some political bigots it will end up just like ‘messing about with the beehive’ - the consequence of which can be injurious. Smugness and taking for granted that everything will be all right in our society even if we go overboard in toying with racial and religious issues can be a grim mistake.

It is only through a holistic approach to racial and religious issues in education can we create an enlightened society. Only through appraising race and religion with a divergent approach could make the people become more tolerant of each other. When we seldom make children see the gist of good and universal values found in people of other races and religions they would naturally grow up having a jaundiced view of anything alien to them.

We may have, to a certain extent, overlooked some of these mundane issues in life. Do we teach our children to assimilate the good values of others and yet preserve our individuality? Do we teach our children that we have been created different but we still have a lot of common values to share and cherish with others? Do we make our children see the similarities instead of the differences when it comes to diverse values between religions? Do we teach our children to respect the beliefs of others and have a high threshold of tolerance for each other? These are the issues that have to be considered when nurturing our children. It helps them to develop a higher tolerance threshold for differences and preserve peace and harmony in our society.

- Malaysia Chronicle