Reform while the going is good

THE mob violence at Low Yat Plaza and, worse, the statements issued on the blogs by certain groups trying to instigate a wider racial conflict as well as the pathetic attempts by some individuals to justify the thuggish behaviour of the rioters as a legitimate expression of frustration on the part of the Malays, indicate all too clearly that racism is still a big challenge to peace and racial unity in Malaysia. It is time, as Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said recently, to outlaw and criminalise hate speeches and racism in all its forms.

The first step towards banning racism is to recognise its existence, and this must come from the very top of the political leadership. We saw this happening in the US when President Obama told the nation in a televised address that it was difficult for America to hold its head high as a world leader in democracy and to lecture other nations on human rights when there are frequent incidents of hate shootings by whites against innocent blacks, and when there is open racial discrimination in the work place or in university campuses.