PETALING JAYA: After a three-year hiatus, the #SaySomethingNice campaign to mark the National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations is set to get a boost from the unity government.
This followed an announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof (pic) on plans to create better awareness of the campaign through Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) including getting politicians from both sides of the divide involved in the campaign.
"As chairman of the National Unity Advisory Council, I will bring it to the council that such a campaign is taken up by Members of Parliament and state-elected assemblymen.
"It is a reminder to leaders that we are supposed to unite the people.
"Unity is very important for the development and prosperity of the nation where its people live in harmony and peace," he told reporters after launching the #saysomethingNice 2023 campaign at Taylor's University Lakeside Campus on Tuesday (Aug 29).
Fadillah said that the nation's multi-ethnic and religious society was being further polarised due to politics.
"At the moment, the situation in the country shows that polarisation is happening due to race and religion.
"As such we need such campaigns to encourage every level of society, irrespective if they are political or business leaders to say something nice to unite the rakyat," he added.
He would bring the matter up during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Aug 30).
Earlier, in his speech, Fadillah said that he would also propose to the Cabinet for RTM to provide coverage to the campaign to create better awareness among the rakyat.
The #SaySomethingNice campaign was initiated by Zubedy Sdn Bhd in 2011 with several non-governmental organisations and private sector partners.
Themed 'Coalition of the Measured', the campaign aimed to capture moments of unity among Malaysians over the next 17 days in conjunction with the month-long Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations between Aug 31 to Sept 16.
Meanwhile, Zubedy's managing director Anas Zubedy said the theme of this campaign comes in response to the current political landscape.
"Today, our political actors give the worst examples of their opponents and promote them as mainstream.
"This is done just to draw partisan lines to get votes but at the same time create animosity between their supporters," he said in his speech.
He said that the campaign was timely and encouraged Malaysians to be more measured with their words rather than being extreme.
