LETTERS: The cabinet of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin saw the establishment of a new National Unity ministry from a department under the Prime Minister’s Department.
This is more urgent with the many ethnic and religious issues raised over the years, which need efforts to restore greater appreciation of our diversity and the need to enhance the institutional capacity in addressing major concerns.
As the new Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique takes her role, there is a need to review the following matters to strengthen national unity and social cohesion in Malaysia.
FIRST, Halimah should review the findings and recommendations of the National Unity Consultative Council report (NUCC 2015).
The document offers 15 recommendations and one of them is a recommendation for new legislation such as the National Harmony Act and the establishment of an independent national unity commission with powers to undertake mediation and conflict resolution.
There is an urgent need for a formal mechanism that is non-judicial which seeks to mediate and resolve conflicts among communities and groups in a formal setting and with legal provision.
SECOND, upgrade the Department of National Unity by dividing its roles into three new departments such as a new Department of Rukun Tetangga (RT) with a director-general.
RT is the largest organised grassroots movement with 203,250 grassroots leaders in 8,130 RT units in every state. This is an untapped potential to ensure the grassroots become guardians of ethnic diversity on the ground.
The second area is to set up a new department of social cohesion, also with a new D-G, and this department will focus on policy and monitoring work in ministries and agencies.
There is a need to monitor national unity concerns, especially social inclusion for socio-economic development, to ensure no individual or community is left behind.
A third is to upgrade the Institut Kajian dan Latihan Integrasi Nasional (IKLIN) into a better resourced institute in cooperation and support of the Institute of Ethnic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia by also upgrading it into a national institute as agreed in the 11th Malaysia Plan.
The ministry will need to upgrade staff at all levels who are multi-ethnic and multi-disciplinary with adequate financial resources.
THIRD, there is a need to establish a Cabinet Committee on National Unity and Social Cohesion with all the key ministries chaired by the prime minister.
This is to ensure that the role of national unity is not just the function of one ministry but also the joint role of all agencies as this is the objective of development policies and programmes to enhance inter-ethnic and religious cooperation and understanding.
No individual or group or community should feel that they are being left out to enjoy the shared prosperity promised. While there are challenges, there are also opportunities at a time such as this to review and address the root issues so as to build a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.
DATUK DR DENISON JAYASOORIA
Former Professor of Public Advocacy, Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times