KUALA LUMPUR: Playing up racial and religious sentiments in an election is nothing new in Malaysian politics, but extreme fanning of such sentiments will affect the country's progress.
Experts said fear-mongering tactics played by certain quarters during elections could be considered as a "potent weapon" to garner votes.
However, such negative practices will continue to leave their mark on the country even for the next 100 years.
Political analyst and law lecturer Professor Dr Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmood said politicians saw such tactics as a "tried and tested" formula to entice the people.
He believed such extreme fanning of race and religious sentiments would continue.
"We have not been able to shake away from race and religious politics that is not benefitting the country at all.
"We are still living in fear of race and religion consequences that have affected our efforts to become a developed nation and it looks like the 2Rs (race and religion) will continue to haunt us for another 100 years," he told the New Straits Times.
He said although rational-thinking Malaysians could differentiate between fact and fiction, many other voters were triggered by racial and religious sentiments.
"These statements are usually taken with a pinch of salt for rational and reasonable Malaysians, but they will trigger the anger and emotion of the uninformed and staunch supporters.
"Those on the fence could also be persuaded and this is what the politicians want, which is gaining the support of fence-sitters," he said.
As the state polls draw near, racial and religious sentiments have been played by all quarters, including the likes of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who claimed that promoting Malaysia as a multiracial country was against the Federal Constitution.
At the same time, Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, in a blistering attack towards DAP last week, claimed that the party under Pakatan Harapan had a "Chinese agenda" and was out to continue the eradication of Malay and Bumiputera supremacy set in place by British colonialist.
DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng also grabbed headlines when he was quoted by a Chinese daily for alleging that people behind the "green wave" would destroy Indian temples if they did not like them.
Police are now investigating Hadi and Lim for their statements which allegedly touched on race, royalty and religious (3R) sentiments.
Another political analyst, Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Dr Azmi Hassan, said the use of 3R sentiments to fish for votes had led to the political divide in the country.
"The tactics used have been proven to be effective. If we look at how the tactic was used to gain votes during the 15th General Election, it will be used over and over again for the state polls.
"This is why the problem lies with the politicians. 3R was used two decades ago and this has led to the political and ideological divide that we have today.
"It is not because of different political beliefs, but the play of 3R, which is very dangerous and detrimental to our country. Hence, they must stop and use other methods to gain votes."