Malaysia in a state of stable tension, says don

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is in a state of “stable tension” and the condition of its ethnic relations fluctuates between a “political and traffic jam”, a forum was told Wednesday.

Forum speaker and UKM Institute of Ethnic Studies founding director Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin explained his perception by comparing two scenarios.

One scenario was the Hindraf street demonstration, which he said was a situation that sometimes occurred owing to Malaysia’s existence, normally in “a state of stable tension”.

“The other picture is a friend stuck in a traffic jam, using his handphone without a hands-free kit, arguing with a friend as he tries to convince him or her to vote for the Opposition party candidate irrespective of ethnic origin.”

“Malaysians prefer to engage in tongue wagging and not parang waving when relating to each other and expressing their arguments.

“This is made available by vernacular newspapers and cyberspace although some bloggers are good at bad-mouthing but not good at revealing who they are,” he added.

Dr Shamsul Amri was speaking at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) forum entitled Enhancing Inter-Ethnic Relations in Malaysia: Will the Inter-Ethnic Module in Public Universities Help to Deliver? (This module has been taught since June 2007.)

The inter-ethnic module, he said, would provide students with the necessary analytical tools to share their experience of being similar and different, and to develop a more informed perspective in understanding the current state of ethnic relations in the country.

Malaysian Institute of Development and Asian Studies director Dr K.J. John said ethnic relations was at a poor level due to lack of appreciation between ethnicities.

Responding during the dialogue session, Dr Shamsul Amri said one should not hope nor dream that the system would change.

“We produce polarisation but we know how to provide the antidote, which is the inter-ethnic module,” he said.