KUALA LUMPUR - Politicians are alleged to be the cause of various issues related to race and religion in Malaysia recently.
Malaysian Youth Member of Parliament Farid Aidy said that Malaysians in general never had any issue in terms of racial unity, but it was used by some politicians to fuel hatred for their own personal and party interests.
"In the past, we rarely heard issues related to race and religion.
"I myself come from a school that had 50 per cent Malay students, 40 per cent Chinese and the rest were Indian but we have no problem being good friends.
"Recently, racial issues from politicians themselves are often played out including the 3R issue. I hope these issues will no longer fill the air because we actually don't have any issues.
"If we meet friends from other races, we Malays never feel out of place, we can be good friends with them," he said on 'Pantau Agenda Reformasi' show yesterday.
Therefore, he perceived the Education and the Unity Ministries' initiative to instil a spirit of racial unity in school as a commendable effort.
As for SDG and International Youth Council of India Malaysia Exco Peshminder Pall Singh, he believed that the government and representatives of the people should focus on efforts to increase the number of facilities for the people of all groups besides giving an explanation on the efforts that have been made and can be enjoyed by the people.
"Today's government needs to play a role in further improving information tasks. They should explain the initiatives to the people.
"If you look at it from a mainstream perspective, there are many opportunities available, but not many people are aware of them.
"So what I hope is the information works by the government to be improved. What is already good, but if it can be improved, it would be even better," he said. - AWANI