Budget 2025: Give unity priority

 

With Budget 2025 ready for unveiling on Oct 18 in Parliament, Malaysians are anxiously waiting to see how much in allocation different ministries will get.

If the past is any indication, we can be certain that education and health will receive the highest allocations. The Prime Minister’s Department too will get a hefty chunk of the budget allocations.

The ministry of education received the largest allocation of RM52.6 billion or 16% cent of the total estimated federal expenditure last year while the health ministry received RM41.2 billion – the second largest amount.

Certainly, education and health deserve high allocations. They should be given even more under Budget 2025.

And I would argue that science and technology also deserve a higher amount, given the pace at which technological innovations and gadgets are changing our lives.

One area that is neglected, and has been neglected for decades, is the budgetary allocation for ensuring unity among multiracial, multicultural and multireligious Malaysians.

Under Budget 2024, the unity ministry was given only RM60 million. This is pittance for such an important ministry.

Our leaders, from the early years, have always talked about the importance of unity in their speeches but, unfortunately, on-the-ground efforts and allocations towards enhancing unity have been rather disappointing.

As such, they have been forced to spend money on firefighting after clashes break out or tensions rise. It’s time to prevent fires.

To do that, the unity ministry must not only be given the importance it deserves but also the allocation it needs to foster better understanding and cooperation at all levels.

On Sept 25, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Budget 2025 would aim at raising the people’s living standards and advancing the country’s development.

I would urge Anwar to add improving harmony as the third pillar of his budget’s aim.

The horrendous suffering of people in countries which are divided and embroiled in internecine conflicts stares at us daily from our television screens. And it’s not limited to death, destruction and physical pain; it affects livelihoods and the education of whole generations too.

The economic impact of violence on the global economy in 2023 was US$19.1 trillion in purchasing power parity terms, according to think-tank the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). This figure, it says, is equivalent to 13.5% of the world’s economic activity or US$2,380 per person.

Malaysians, thankfully, are a peaceable lot.

In the latest Global Peace Index of the IEP – which measures the level of peacefulness – Malaysia was ranked 10th among 163 independent states and territories. That’s certainly something to be happy about.

We should be grateful that Malaysians by and large want to live in peace and to resolve differences in a civilised manner.

Everyone says that left to their own devices, Malaysians know how to live in harmony and that it is politicians who stir up race and religious animosity.

Many people may dislike our politicians and use any number of disparaging words on them; but we must be grateful that no matter how obnoxious or stupid some of them may sound, they do not cross the line when it comes to violence.

I know some non-Malays feel PAS has extremist tendencies; I know too that some Malays think the DAP has extremist tendencies. Some others think Umno has extremist leaders and members in its midst.

But in my years as a journalist, I have never come across the DAP, or PAS or Umno advocating or promoting physical violence.

Having said that, I admit that some politicians have, every now and then, trod on the line with their seeming bravado and explosive statements geared at looking like heroes to their community or clearing a path for advancement in their party.

I’m also aware that Malaysians are more divided now than they have ever been. There is unspoken fear; there is suspicion; there is distrust. Many are building cocoons around themselves and their communities or interest groups.

In such a situation, the promotion of unity becomes not just important but urgent too. We need to ensure there is no avenue for a breakout of violence; that problems are settled amicably, with people respecting the law; and that differences do not divide us.

For that, we need to have policies in place that make everyone feel they are equally valuable and respected citizens; policies that ensure justice and fair play and which offer equal opportunities to all citizens.

We need to have programmes in place to bring people – especially children and youths – of all cultures and religions together more often; programmes that help us learn more about each other’s ways and enhance mutual respect.

We need to inculcate acceptance of each other’s differences, including in religion and culture, and to view diversity as a strength; we need to inculcate a sense of shared destiny in everyone – especially in our children so that they can pursue their dreams as adults in a peaceful nation.

That takes effort; and money.

And that is why the unity ministry must be given as much importance, if not more, than, say, the finance ministry. That is why the unity ministry must be given much, much more than RM60 million in any national budget. - FMT

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