Stop Race Politics!

I am deeply disappointed by the actions of some politicians and the mainstream media in politicizing in a racial manner the Friday prayer sermon in Penang which some quarters claimed that the name of the Yang Dipertuan Agong had been replaced with that of the CM Lim Guang Eng. The state government has deny this allegation but the issue is still being politicised.

In this holy month of Ramadhan, why are there individuals who are miss using the sanctity of religion for their political gain. Statement made by Datuk Zahid Hamidi is uncalled for as instead of investigating the matter, some quarters prefer to politicised it out of proportion.

It must be remembered by Malaysians especially Muslims that slander in Islam is worst than murder, therefore, if the allegation happens to be untrue, one is committing a sin worst than murder. This allegation if not properly handled, might lead to religious and racial uproar in this mentally-induced racial and religious hyper-sensitive nation that can disrupt the harmony between the races.

This is not the first time such racialisation of an issue is being done nor will it be the last if we continue to reward race politics and racist politicians. This issue is worst as aside from race, it also involved religion.The issue of Hindraf, the cow head protest and so on is the result of practising race politics

The only way to move beyond all this is by the electorate to reject race politics as it does more harm than good, it creates disunity and takes our attention away from the real issues of the day like the menace of corruption, the inequity in economic distribution between the rich and the poor and so on.

If this trend continues, then there is the possibility that another May 13 might create havoc in this beloved nation of ours. Let us be responsible Malaysians and reject any politicians with such tendencies in all elections, be it national elections or party ones.

Failure to do so, as a result will lead to extremist force taking over the country. Look at the public support of Perkasa among the Malays, and how politicians for both side of the divide that is empty content wise but due to wilingness to be ''pejuang bangsa"(race warrior, in other words, racist to an extreme) is going up the ranks.

We certainly don't want such people to lead or be influential in managing this nation, thus before it's to late, let us do something. Moderates politicians that are trying to bridge the divide like Zaid Ibrahim( Malay-Non Malays) and Khalid Samad( Muslims-Non Muslims) require our strongest support as they are being attacked by Ultra Malays and Muslim conservatives respectively. We need such politicians to lead and influence the direction of this nation, not racist demagogues in Perkasa and so on.

The sanctity of religion and race must be protected and not be miss used as a divisive tool to enhance one's salience to a political party so that votes can be gained. The practice of such politics is irresponsible. A more humane alternative is to vote based on humanistic values such as empathy towards the ''others" and try to understand their rights, religion and culture. Lets us create a Malaysian society where one can live in harmony, individually and collectively where one is not punished because of his or her identity.

Let us strive for Martin Luther King's speech where he talked about his dream for his nation,
'' I have a dream, that my four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by their colour, but by the content of their character".

Here in Malaysia, such word such echo in our hearts and mind as here, we are not judged by our content of character, but by our colour instead. Let us stand up and be counted to stop such practices, let us vote based on character and not colour.

Let us vote for the party that have the right values to guide our nation forward in a way that will not dampen our spirits and not the party that fight for narrow racial interests that create a society that is racist instead of a humanist society. Let us vote for the party with the best ideas for the nation and the ability to implement it well, not the party that talks of race supremacy or race solidarity.

In conclusion, we must demand the end of racial politics and ask instead for real issues-based ones-politics based on things that truly matter for our nation like the nation economic state,(sharing fairly of our nation wealth),social state(the polarisation among the races) , education state( is our education system producing the right human capital to steer this country in the 21st century) and many more.

The first step is for Malaysians to demand for such practice by at least using the ballot box, other measures that can help is the public advocation of such politics and for research on the subject to be conducted and information gained to be disseminated to the general public. We can only clean up our country if we clean up our politics and so let the'' Gotong Royong" begin for a cleaner politics that will lead us to a cleaner Malaysia.