KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must rise above and beyond racial and religious contentions to achieve developed nation status.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president Datuk Dr Xavier Jayakumar said it was regrettable that the country continued to be embroiled in the politics involving race and religion.
In a New Year message posted on Twitter, he said events that developed over the past 18 months involving education and law enforcement suggested that little had changed since Pakatan Harapan came into power.
He said Malaysia continued to be stuck in the mould of the 1960s and 1970s when Barisan Nasional, with Umno at its helm, divided and ruled the country along racial and religious lines with MCA and MIC and the support of state-based East Malaysian parties.
“The country was then new with long-term goals aimed at a lasting unity and harmony among its people.
“It had worked then; Malaysia was the envy of its neighbours in the fields of economic growth and education with boundless potential to grow even more,” he said.
“Sadly, today, despite the change of government, we have regressed as politics are dominated by issues involving race and religion,” he said.
Xavier said decisions made by the authorities on such issues were no different than the days before May 9, 2018.
“Worse still, multiracial parties are still being painted as a threat to the well-being of certain races in order for them to progress further,” he said.
He said, admittedly, only Sabah and Sarawak had shown more tolerance on race and religious issues.
“This is something those in the Peninsula need to learn and champion from time to time,” he said.
Xavier said the present leadership had to focus on how the country should move forward from the dilemma.
“We need to ‘bite the bullet’ and move away from the present system,” he said, adding that a complete revamp of the education system was required as the present curriculum had remained almost the same for more than 40 years.
Xavier said if the government and its people continued to buy into the politics of race and religion instigated by the opposition, the country would continue to suffer from social polarisation and stunted economic growth.
“That said, our future remains bright and to keep it that way, the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 must be implemented in the manner in which it is intended,” he said.
“As 2020 looms, let us grow together as a nation by casting aside racial and religious differences without compromising our values and evolve into the successful country that it is meant to be,” he said.