Drifting into emotive politics is dangerous

 

From Moaz Nair

Racial polarisation is becoming more dominant, and of late, politicians who are bankrupt of ideas are harping on racial and religious issues to stay relevant to voters.

It appears that politicking has gone overboard, with religion being unnecessarily dragged into politics. Minor dissensions, such as a brand image on a product label, are deliberately turned into explosive issues. Sensitive issues are persistently fanned by politicians.

This does not bode well for a multi-racial country like Malaysia. Irrational politicking, racial and religious squabbling and lack of opportunities for all are making the country lose talented human capital.

In fact, for peace of mind, many open-minded and bright Malaysians of all races have left the country to seek better opportunities elsewhere. The country is losing the finest brains to other nations.

When politicians use race and religion as tools for popularity and to secure votes to stay in power, they are doing a disservice to the nation.

Investors have become sceptical, seeing the country embroiled in grubby politics. The economy is not growing, there’s much capital outflow, the standard of education has dropped, crime has risen, the cost of living has gone sky-high, the poor are becoming poorer and there are less job opportunities for graduates and school leavers.

Reaping the consequences

Racial and religious overtones need to be halted before the country implodes. There must be political will to stop the use of race and religion to pit the people against each other.

Overzealous 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 have seen or are seeing gruesome bloodshed due to racial and religious dissensions.

We have seen racial and religious conflicts escalating into killings and the destruction of places of worship and other vital infrastructure. Many conflict-ridden countries have been economically ruined and the people have ended up as paupers and refugees.

They are reaping the consequences of polarisation.

Once triggered and inflamed, such conflicts cannot be easily doused with rationality.

Some European countries are great examples of how the people of a nation can live in peace. Despite having a population of different races and religions, the tolerance threshold is high among their people.

One reason is that people are taught from young to accept the fact that human beings are born different and are brought up in diverse ways – and we have to learn to put up with these differences in life.

These humanistic values are factored into their education system. They are taught to not only respect but also assimilate the good values found in diverse schools of thought and yet reserve the right to preserve their individuality.

Drifting into emotive politics

A highly cultured community will know that engaging in soiled politics to win the hearts of the people at the expense of racial and religious accord is unhelpful, as it can wreak havoc in any society.

As such, drifting into emotive politics can be dangerous. When racial and religious overtones become too frequent – a trade mark among some political bigots – it will be like stirring a hornet’s nest, and the consequence can be terrible.

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 that we can create an enlightened society. If we rarely make children see the good and universal values found in people of other races and religions, they will naturally grow up with a jaundiced view of anything alien to them.

Do we teach the young to assimilate the good values of others and yet preserve their individuality? Do we teach them that we have been created differently but we still have a lot of common values to share and cherish with others? Do we make them see the similarities instead of the differences when it comes to religious values? Do we teach them 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 the young. It helps them to develop a higher tolerance threshold for differences and preserve peace and harmony in our society.

The onus is on citizens to put aside their racial sentiments and vote for political parties that have a multi-ethnic outlook. It’s never too late for voters to opt for multi-racialism when it comes to forming a government that is appealing to all ethnic groups in the country. - FMT

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.