Exorcising the spectre of May 13, 1969

This year marks 50 years since the race riots of May 13, 1969.

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it," is the famous saying of philosopher George Santayana. We must understand why the May 13 riot happened in order to ensure that we do not see a repeat of it.

We have been haunted by the spectre of May 13, 1969, for far too long. Irresponsible politicians and opportunistic individuals have used the spectre of May 13 as a way to dissuade dissidents from ‘rocking the boat’ or ‘playing with fire’. Those who challenge the status quo have been met with warnings of a ‘repeat’ of riots.

Fifty years later, prejudice and distrust of ‘the other’ remain prevalent. Bigotry, prejudice and racism give rise to intolerance, as race and religion are used as political currency.

The advent of social media and the increasing prevalence of ‘fake news’ have been attributed to increasing intolerance, not just in Malaysia, but all over the world.

The spectre of May 13, 1969, will continue to be raised.

Yet, Malaysia in 1969 was different from the Malaysia of 2019. It might be a cliché, but we are in this era of a ‘New Malaysia’, a Malaysia that has seen a change of government after 60-odd years of single-party rule.

We must take the opportunity of this ‘new Malaysia’ to finally banish the spectre of May 13, 1969.

In order to do so, we must first, collectively as a society, develop intolerance to all forms of extremism. We must reject those who continuously harp on racial and religious issues.

Secondly, we must address the imbalance and marginalisation within society. The government’s ‘Shared Prosperity’ (Kemakmuran Bersama) objectives of economic inclusiveness, and the narrowing of the income and wealth gaps within society, should go some way towards addressing the fault lines in our society, etched by marginalisation.

More significantly, the ‘Shared Prosperity’ agenda sets a new national narrative to counter the dangerous racial and religious rhetoric peddled by some quarters.

Thirdly, we must open up more democratic spaces. Free and frank discussions must be allowed to take place about ethnic relations, discrimination and marginalisation.

The answer to intolerance is not to clamp down on freedom, but to allow for more freedom and to let democracy flourish.

Bigotry, prejudice and racism must be exposed and countered, not allowed to grow in the darkness. This can only happen in a society that upholds freedom.

Only by taking stock of our differences, and reckoning our fault lines, can we truly move on from May 13, 1969.

SYAHREDZAN JOHAN is a lawyer, columnist, social media enthusiast and political secretary to an MP. - Mkini