Two PAS veeps say Race Relations Act not needed

Dec 29: Two PAS vice presidents viewed the proposed Race Relations Act as unnecessary, and said it was more important for UMNO and Barisan Nasional to stop their racial overtones and respect the rights of every community.

Contacted by Harakahdaily, Mahfuz Omar said if people in power could stop racist rhetoric, it would be conducive for racial harmony to be flourish.

“Good race relations can occur without any laws if society knows how to respect each other without vested interests involved,” he explained.
Earlier, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz said the BN government would table a Race Relations Bill in March to “regulate interaction among the races and foster mutual respect” as well as combat 'extremism'.

BN MPs had said that such a bill was necessary in view of prime minister Najib Razak’s commitment to multi-culturalism and tolerance.

Rebuffing, Mahfuz said the race-related problems faced by the country were due to the existence of groups obsessed with race and which antagonise other races.

Mahfuz called on UMNO to understand the true meaning of race relations before proposing laws to that effect.

Mahfuz's colleague Salahuddin Ayub meanwhile said the proposed bill should take all stakeholders’ view before it was tabled in parliament.

“We want the best, not a law tailored to suit a political party’s interest,” he said.

The Kubang Kerian MP also opined that such a law was not presently needed.

“What is needed is dialogue and respect between races.”