MALAYSIA, like any other country that has a population made up of various races, is a powder keg of sorts. And like any melting-pot country, there are also many religions. We have all the major religions of the world.
Among these are Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Taoism and yes, even Judaism, though the number of Jews here these days is so tiny as to be negligible. And, of course, we have the Orang Asli, many of whom follow their old religions and traditions.
In general, Malaysians have done well living together in harmony. Apart from that one major incident in 1969, we have not had any problems. True, there have been occasions when things threaten to boil over, but that is only to be expected in a societal setting such as ours.
History teaches us that there have been many conflicts and incidents of violence that have been sparked by racial or religious sentiment.
As such, the authorities have always had to be vigilant that such sentiments do not ignite here. It perhaps helps that the May 13 incident is part of living memory.
In this digital day and age, however, where borders no longer exist and an insult posted on social media on the other side of the world can instantly spark anger and hatred here, extra vigilance is needed.
Of late, it seems that sensitivities have been offended more and more, and easily enough. A simple move as the introduction of khat in schools led to Chinese educationist group Dong Zong screaming “subtle Islamisation”, while India-born preacher Zakir Naik insulted two groups in one ceramah in Kelantan, whether intentional or not, or taken out of context.
It is perhaps with the increasing number of incidents in mind that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced the setting up of a hotline to report posts that touch on the 3Rs (race, religion and royalty).
The idea behind this is to facilitate and expedite the enforcement to be taken against 3R content.
But the feeling is that MCMC has rushed into this. The thought processes that led to the setting up of the hotline seem to have been flawed.
The hotline’s biggest critics say this a move that impinges on the democratic principles this country subscribes to, as well as the right to freedom of speech and expression. And these critics are right, at least in a way.
There is a fine line between freedom of speech and speech that promotes hatred and violence. It is the latter, presumably, that MCMC is concerned with. For this to work, MCMC needs to provide clear and specific guidelines as to what sort of posts should be reported.
The best solution, however, is self-policing. Social media provides a false sense of anonymity to users, releasing inhibitions. It is this lack of inhibition we need to wary of.
Should we catch ourselves wanting to comment on a different race or religion — or indeed someone of a different race or religion — than we should, as mature people, practise a little self restraint.
Let’s remember one simple guideline: Our rights end when they tread on someone else’s rights.