Standing united: Fadillah (front centre) at the launch of the #SaySomethingNice 2023 campaign at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus yesterday. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Growing polarisation within the nation’s multi-ethnic and religious society due to toxic politics is a concern and will be raised during the Cabinet meeting today, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.Fadillah, who chairs the National Unity Advisory Council (MPPN), will raise the issue himself.
“I am from Sarawak and Bandar Kuching, which is recognised as the city of unity.
“But looking at the situation in Peninsular Malaysia, it saddens and worries me.
“People are talking about differences, be they from the extreme right or extreme left, and focusing on their differences.
“What we need to do is find commonalities among ourselves,” he said in his speech when launching the #SaySometingNice 2023 campaign at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus yesterday.
At the moment, the situation in the country showed polarisation is happening due to race and religion, he said.
“As such, we need campaigns to encourage every level of society, irrespective of whether they are political or business leaders, to say something nice to unite the rakyat,” he added.
Fadillah said he would also propose that the #SaySometingNice 2023 campaign be promoted by RTM as one of the means to foster unity.
Earlier, before launching the event, Fadillah sportingly joined other guests in a “unity dance” while waving white, yellow and red ribbons to show the positive vibes of the campaign.
The dance moves were made up of brief movements from five local ethnic dances.
Last month, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law Reforms), Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, noted that existing laws may be repealed and even new ones introduced to tackle the 3R issues of race, religion and the royal institution.
The moves come following recent calls by civil society, including the Malaysian Bar, for new laws to be introduced to tackle the 3R issues.
Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah had previously suggested three new legislations: the Racial and Religious Hate Crime Bill, the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, and the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill, all of which had been drafted and forwarded to the government in February.
When met after the event, Fadillah acknowledged that unhealthy politics were driving a wedge between the people.
Although enacting the new laws could help tackle toxic politics, he said it would not resolve the problem entirely.
“The Harmony Bill will be part of the plan but what is more important is not just the law.
“The law will not change the people unless there is a change in the culture and mindset in the way we talk, think and work,” Fadillah added.
He was asked if the government was considering enacting new laws to deal with the issues.
After the launch of the campaign, Fadillah said he would also call on Members of Parliament and state-elected assemblymen to take up the campaign.
“It is a reminder to leaders that we are supposed to unite the people.
“In the current global economic uncertainties, unity is needed to revive the nation’s economy.
“Unity is very important for the development and prosperity of a nation where its people live in harmony and peace,” he said.
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 aims to capture moments of unity among Malaysians over the next 17 days in conjunction with the month-long National and Malaysia Day celebrations between Aug 31 to Sept 16.
Zubedy’s managing director, Anas Zubedy, said in his speech that the theme of the campaign comes in response to the current political landscape.
“Today, our political actors give the worst examples of their opponents and promote them as main stream.
“This is done just to draw partisan lines to get votes but at the same time create animosity between their supporters,” said the moderate advocate.
He added that the campaign is timely and encourages Malaysians to be more measured with their words rather than being extreme.
