Programmes with youths can foster racial unity

SHAH ALAM - Holding programmes with youths can foster the spirit of racial unity and celebrate differences without creating any gaps between ethnicities, says Architects of Diversity (AOD).

Its executive officer Jason Wee said such programmes were important to discuss sensitive and current issues in the country to see the reaction of each participant in controlling their emotions and the situation that occured.

He said from this learning process, teenagers would be exposed to the current situation, especially when it involved sentiments of hatred between races.

"Through several simulations, participants would express anger, shout and call each other names.

"Through this, it can be seen how teenagers were able to distinguish between good and bad intentions to ensure they are not manipulated by parties intentionally seeking to sow division between races.

"We also learn to be a forgiving person so that we will live a peaceful life without any grudge or hatred," he said in response to the #MZB365 campaign on Sunday.

Wee said that by building bridges between races, it can restore relationships and open up wider opportunities to build a more harmonious country.

He said to prevent such incidents from happening, each party needed to learn how to live and celebrate differences to build trust with each other.

He added that the nature of forgiveness towards another needed to be the basis of life as a pluralistic country.