Focused on making a difference

THE increasing tide of divisive rhetoric and actions, which threaten our national harmony and make a mockery of our proclaimed adherence to moderation, is causing alarm among concerned citizens.

As the 14th general election approaches, this tide is becoming a tidal wave. Now, hate politics is also coming into the picture so much so that the Prime Minister has recently come out strongly against it.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam has given an excellent list of proposals on how to combat this hate politics in his letter, “Keep hate politics out of GE14” (The Star, Jan 9).

For sustained national harmony and to minimise the impact of hate politics, I think Malaysian citizens should adopt and practise a certain code of ethical conduct. In this respect, I would urge concerned Malaysians to adopt and practise the Dialog Rakyat code of ethical conduct and make it our New Year resolution. The code of ethical conduct is as follows:

We, the concerned and responsible citizens of Malaysia, undertake to adopt a set of behavioural patterns that embody moderation, respect, understanding, trust, transparency, tolerance and accommodation that reflect:

> Respect for one another regardless of ethnicity, religion, geographical region, status or political leaning; and

> Recognition of our similarities and acceptance of our differences.

We, the concerned and responsible citizens of Malaysia agree to:

> Respect the Federal Constitution and uphold the Rukunegara so as to preserve the independence and sovereignty of our nation;

> Promote activities that nurture civic consciousness, civic nationalism, patriotism, national cohesiveness, harmony and unity at all levels of society;

> Advocate justice and fairness, transparency and integrity in all aspects of management and governance;

> Resolve contentions and differences through constructive engagement, always seeking for equitable, mutually beneficial outcomes;

> Refrain from actions that offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate others;

> Reject any form of discrimination, bigotry, extremism, unjustified acts causing harm to any individual or group, including any action that can disrupt harmony and cohesion; and

> Fight corruption and kleptocracy at all levels and in all its manifestations.

We, the concerned and responsible citizens of Malaysia, resolve to:

> Adhere to and promote the Code of Ethical Conduct, and to

> Mobilise citizens towards a Citizen Movement for National Cohesion and Unity.

This code of ethical conduct is the outcome of the first Dialog Rakyat on National Cohesion and Unity held in December 2016. Since then, three other dialogues have been convened to translate the code of ethical conduct into “actionable practices” respectively for individuals, universities and community groups such as residents associations and rukun tetanga.

Dialog Rakyat is an initiative of seven organisations initially, Association of Voices of Peace, Conscience and Reason (PCORE), Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS), Nation Building School (NBS), G25, Inter-faith Spiritual Fellow­ship (INSaF) and Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI). They were joined later by Yayasan 1Malaysia and the National Council of Women’s Organisations, Malaysia (NCWO).

The dialogues have been jointly convened by a number of universities, residents associations and rukun tetanga. More are planned for 2018 to get the support of other organisations and citizen groups.

We can continue to express concern and assign blame about the unhealthy development in our country but we cannot control the action of those with selfish agendas. It is better therefore to focus on what we can control – ourselves – and together we CAN make a difference.

TAN SRI OMAR ABDUL RAHMAN

Chair, Organising Committee

Dialog Rakyat for National Cohesion and Unity

Kuala Lumpur