MAKE racism illegal. What a great idea, but it is not going to happen. Not when there is lack of political will. And the bureaucratic passiveness that follows.
This very loaded hoopla resurfacing in the mess that erupted over a handphone theft in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago would, in all probability, stop at being just that. A mere slogan. This is because the resolve to make it come true is something else altogether. If it gets sucked into the thick morass of politics, which most likely it will, making racism illegal is like a mirage in the desert.
Formulating a law on racism may be doable. Enact, as done in the United Kingdom, a Racial And Religious Hatred Act, a Public Order Act or to a lesser extent the Race Relations Act. But enforcing and prosecuting cases here, as seen many times previously in the fringe of the Sedition Act, is so sticky. Wrapped around the whole issue would be cases of “we were just defending what is rightfully ours in our land” and nobody gets hauled up. Or this: “why were only persons of a single race arrested?”, or “mother tongue education is guaranteed in the constitution and we are up in arms against anyone thinking of abolishing it,” or “we were acting in the interest of our religion when we ordered the cross to be taken down” or even “we run an international business therefore it is our right to advertise for only Mandarin-speaking employees.”
Given a political system that wallows in race-based and religion-based parties, where then is there room for criminalising racism without some kind of pressure applied, even before a prosecution could proceed, to justify this act or that speech? And topping it would be enforcers who think and behave like politicians. “Oh, that’s not sedition” kind of statement from the very start. We also cannot deny the fact that many people are out there to make a meal out of the courses being conducted by the National Civics Bureau (BTN). Can utterances at these courses ever come under the Racial and Religious Hatred Act if there is one? The politicians say no.
Several articles in the Opinion section of this paper the past week gave a perspective of what it is all about. One, by former secretary-general of the Finance Ministry Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim, interestingly spoke of the existence of an institutionalised racism. “Racism is bad but institutionalised racism is scary in a multiracial country like Malaysia,” he said, to which a rebuttal came from reader M. Arof in a letter headlined “Why castigate the Malays?” published last Thursday, stating: “Every community in the world, whether states, ethnic groups, football clubs, etc., all have their inherent and natural interests and concerns which we have to understand. And, more so if the community is in its ancient homeland.”
This is exactly what I mean by the great challenges in the quest to make racism illegal.
Since many of our laws are based on those of the UK, let’s look at their Public Order Act 1986 which incorporates incitement to racial hatred. For an offence to be committed, there has to be elements of “threatening, abusive or insulting” acts likely to stir up racial hatred. In many cases that ended up in court, “likely” has been known to be interpreted very broadly. Plenty of such cases over here.
Section 29A of their Racial And Religious Hatred Act 2006 carries the meaning of “religious hatred” — and that is hatred against a group of persons in reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief. And acts intended to stir up religious hatred (Section 29B) are such as when a person who uses threatening words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening to stir up religious hatred. The offence carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine or both.
Their Race Relations Act 1976 on the other hand deals mainly with discrimination, whether in employment or elsewhere. Many cases here as well.
Another Opinion piece published in this paper on Friday hit the nail on the head: “(The problem) starts with education, and more subtly, the education system,” said Dr Helmy Haja Mydin. “Decades of communal segregation breeds contempt and disregard for those of a different colour. We have Malays who do not mix socially with non-Malays, we have students of vernacular schools who are unable to converse in Bahasa Malaysia after more than a decade in school.”
Yes, we have sections of the community who, while accusing others of being racists, are so adamant that the vernacular school system should stay no matter what. And they too have the backing of politicians aside from the schools getting huge grants especially during election seasons.
Multi-school systems polarise the whole country. Tackle this and change our attitudes first before even thinking about laws on racism.
The freelance writer is an award-winning columnist