Friday September 19, 2008
Race Relations Act gets Cabinet nod
By V.P. SUJATA
PUTRAJAYA: The proposed Race Relations Act to strengthen ties among the different races in the country has been approved by the Cabinet, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
He said various issues had to be discussed and proposals on race relations needed to be studied before the Act could be drafted and tabled in Parliament.
He added that the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry and the Home Ministry would gather information and data to draft the Act.
Speaking to reporters after addressing ministry staff at a monthly gathering yesterday, Syed Hamid said both ministries would also have to collect input from non-Governmental organisations and individuals on the contents and scope of the Act.
The Act would include provisions on punitive action while using the Federal Constitution as the guideline, he said.
He added that the Act would also touch on race relations through the economic, education and distribution systems.
“There is a great need to work on the mindset of Malaysians and ways to strengthen the relations among all races in the country,” said Syed Hamid.
“We need to give priority on our diverse cultures and on the sensitivity of each race in order to create an ideal environment to live in,” he said, adding that similar Acts in other countries would be used as reference in drafting it.
He said Britain had the Act for many years while some other European countries were working on similar laws too as they were also becoming more multiracial.
When asked to comment on a suggestion by MCA Youth chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai that the Act could replace the Internal Security Act (ISA), Syed Hamid said Liow could submit his proposal during discussions on the Act in the Cabinet.
On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s statement that the ISA was good but its enforcement must be seen to be rational and fair, Syed Hamid said it was wrong to interpret his statement to mean the enforcement was improper.
He said enforcement of any law should be fair and just, adding that no one including the police and ministers enforce the law without being fair.
“The law is meant to do justice to the people,” he said.
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