Cease the rhetoric on citizenship

A PROPOSAL that Malaysian children be required to learn the Malay language before they are given the “blue” identity cards for citizenship was recently reported. A university lecturer suggested that children who cannot speak Malay would only be given “red” identity cards until they are able to speak the language.

This proposal comes after a long stream of ethno-nationalist rhetoric on citizenship. Demands have been made before this for some to be stripped of their citizenship, purportedly for being “disloyal” or “traitorous”. Usually such calls are made as a direct response to dissent against the government of the day.