BTN chief concedes racism peaks during election season

PETALING JAYA: Racism in Malaysia peaks during the election season although it lacks the intensity of racial issues of the 1970s and 1980s, says National Civics Bureau (BTN) chief Ibrahim Saad.

He said this at a forum in Shah Alam last night, while explaining that issues of race were most often instigated by certain quarters during election campaigns in a bid to increase their political power.

“I think Malaysians have become more mature, following their exposure to knowledge available online. But unfortunately, we are inclined towards looking at it (race issues) negatively,” he said while stating his confidence that racism in the country could be kept under control, and even eradicated.

Other penalists at the forum, oganised by Malay daily Sinar Harian, were Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s ethnic research institute fellow Prof Teo Kok Seong; Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu lecturer Raja Rajeswari Seetha Raman; and Multiracial Reverted Muslim (MRM) founder Firdaus Wong.

Ibrahim, in his speech, also disagreed with a statement by Prof Teo, who said being racist was part of human nature and would always exist to some degree.

Despite acknowledging that racism peaked during elections, Ibrahim urged the audience not to blame politicians for widening the divide between the races.

“It is their job to seek influence. But it is ordinary people like us who must be wise in voting and determining which is good, and which is bad,” he said.

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