Former minister Rafidah Aziz has urged Malaysians to assume responsibility for building a harmonious nation, instead of pandering to specific races through superficial role-playing.
Addressing some 500 participants at a students' summit in Kuala Lumpur, Rafidah said politicians in particular should stop "playing a role" as it implies putting on an act to target only a certain group of people rather than all Malaysians.
"We each have a role and I'm saying a role to assume, not roles to play. Get that word out of your vocabulary.
"It is because we 'play roles' (that) we have problems today," she said in her keynote speech at the Malaysian Student Leaders Summit XIII 2019 organised by the United Kingdom and Eire (Ireland) Council for Malaysian Students.
"I am playing a role as a Malay politician, a Chinese politician, an Indian politician or from whatever party. Playing a role, you know?
"When I speak to my gallery, I say A but actually I'm B. Enough role play if we want a harmonious nation," she stressed.
Her remarks today came in the wake of de facto unity minister P Waythamoorthy's Tamil statement on Aug 11, in which he disagreed with teaching of khat in Tamil schools.
In an email to Malaysiakini, Waythamoorthy's senior private secretary Alan Kirupakaran subsequently denied the quotes attributed to the minister, although another aide later said the statement - also based on the minister's interview with a Bernama Tamil news programme - was only intended for the Tamil press.
More than just playing the role of a politician, Rafidah said assuming the position must come with conviction, commitment and responsibility in carrying out their duties to the people.
"Assuming responsibility has got an awareness to it, but playing roles is just verbalising some things, speaking to the gallery.
"Enough of speaking to galleries! What we need is a Malaysian gallery that we speak the same thing to each and every time," stressed Rafidah.
The veteran politician also likened Malaysia to post-apartheid South Africa's concept of a 'Rainbow Nation'.
Such a nation, she explained could be formed by having every single Malaysian assuming a role in building a harmonious country.
Rafidah said: "The key to forming a beautiful rainbow is the role of every individual droplet of water which acts as a tiny prism that both dispenses and refracts light back to us.
"There's nothing more than the tiniest droplets of water that form the rainbow."
“And this symbolises our nation to which we belong,” she added. - Mkini
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