KUALA LUMPUR: In the ongoing debate on racial issues, Malaysians seem to prefer to engage in moderate tongue wagging to dangerous parang waving.

That's according to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Institute of Ethnic Studies founding director Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, who added that as a result, the country is now in a state of "stable tension".

"This does not mean that we are going to break out into fights at any moment. It's just that we are constantly criticising and this is merely a form of discussion."

Shamsul pointed out that even as the debate rages on, emotions are always tempered by a general awareness of where immoderate discussion may lead.

"We have been trying to solve ethnic problems and discuss related issues for years now because we are highly conscious of the potential problems that may arise (if the matter is not resolved)," he said at the Isis National Affairs Forum on "Enhancing inter-ethnic relations in Malaysia: Will the inter-ethnic module in public universities help to deliver?", attended by representatives from government departments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.
He said the inter-ethnic relations module, which was mooted in 2004 to bridge the racial gap among undergraduates in public universities, was another form of discussion about the issue.

However, on whether the module actually enhanced inter-ethnic relations in Malaysia, Shamsul said that the answer was "yes and no".

"The inter-ethnic module in public universities will not solve racial problems in Malaysia.

"For one thing, the target group reached is very small. There are only about 20,000 students in our public universities.

"But it can serve as an important analytical tool towards improving the situation.





"We produce racial polarisation in schools, which is then continued in universities. We have created the problem and now we are trying to solve it."

Asked what the feedback was on the new revised module, Shamsul said he could not provide any at present as the course needed to go through a two-year cycle before an assessment could be made.