WE would like to congratulate Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on his second stint as Prime Minister of Malaysia. We have been inspired by him in not allowing age to be an obstacle in serving the nation. We have all been active in public policy discussions and have taken various voluntary roles in nation building. We write this letter in our personal capacities as responsible and highly concerned Malaysians.
We fear that there is a heightened public discussion on race and religion in Malaysian society that is not constructive to nation building. The said discourse is presented in a divisive way, as well as one which is too emotive and counterproductive to inter-religious dialogue and harmony. While we respect the government’s position on the democratic space to express dissenting views, we are of the strong belief that the government needs to set limits on hate speech, intimidation and threats of violence.