The date Nov 24, 2022, is a day that will go down in the history books, and the words below uttered by Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, will forever be committed to my memory.
“Every Malaysian, regardless of ethnicity, religious belief or region, particularly Sabah and Sarawak, should not be left to feel that they are ignored in any way; none should be marginalised under my administration …”
Our new prime minister said all the right things. I clapped a few times, watching Anwar on the screen giving his first media conference.
I thought ‘Malaysia hadn’t heard such uniting words since Tunku Abdul Rahman’ – a statesman and leader whose vision and struggles, sadly, are not familiar to many of our young voters.
So, what would it take for Anwar to walk the talk? As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.
From a public relations standpoint, here are eight things the rakyat would love to see and which would give him credibility:
1. Ban the word tolerance when referring to interracial relations. Instead, use understanding and respect.
2. Launch a massive nationwide education campaign to promote understanding and respect, promote kindness and good manners.
3. Outlaw any forms of hate speech, inciting racial discord and threats to racial harmony, and prosecute any offenders (without fear or favour) to the fullest extent of the law. Absolutely no one should be above this law.
4. Implement mandatory sensitivity training for all Members of Parliament and ministers to educate and promote social sensitivity and behavioural flexibility that ensures better individual and group dynamics.
5. Implement severe penalties on MPs who insult or berate others and put an end to insults to women and marginalised groups.
6. Apply severe penalties for uncivilised behaviour and vulgarity in parliament
7. Reform/revamp the postal voting process. Malaysian embassies/consulates should play a bigger role in ensuring the efficiency of postal voting.
8. PM10 to speak out and denounce any form of racial or religious insults and hatred in the country.
I could go on, but let’s pause here for now.
If Anwar has the strength and courage to begin implementing these eight items, it will go a long way to reassuring the rakyat and “to give this new sense of confidence to all Malaysians that this is their land, and this is their country, they have a role to play.”
PM10, the rakyat is counting on you.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13. Main image by Information Department of Malaysia.
