PUTRAJAYA, April 7 — Prime MInister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urged the ministerial staff and all Malaysians to remain calm and not fall prey to racially charged narratives surrounding recent controversies involving places of worship.
During his address to civil servants this morning, he warned against paying attention to social media posts or content that could unnecessarily stir up tensions.
He said there have been numerous exaggerations online, including false narratives, with some even calling for war over relatively simple or minor incidents.
“Sometimes we are too taken in by social media because people love sensationalism. Small matters that can be resolved are blown up like it’s the start of a war, like a war over a temple, or a war over a balloon,” he said.
“There are people who keep politicising everything, legitimising their anger, calling others kafir and munafik, branding them evil. It cannot be like this. These posts are designed to provoke outrage, laced with racial and religious rhetoric that you shouldn’t take at face value.”
Without naming any specific incident, Anwar alluded to recent viral posts and commentaries targeting temples and religious processions, many of which were infused with racial and religious undertones.
“This country is based on Malays not just in terms of government and royalty but that doesn’t mean we ignore or marginalised minorities from other ethnicities or religions. That has never been part of our religious teachings.
“When we are strong, we must not become arrogant or lazy. Don’t be obsessed with the weaknesses of others while ignoring our own,” he said, adding that unity must be forged through character and inclusivity, not on supremacy or fear-mongering.
He urged Malays to strengthen their community through sincerity, hard work, and personal integrity, rather than by undermining or demonising others.
Anwar ended his remarks by calling on all civil servants and the public to uphold Malaysia’s traditions of tolerance and peaceful coexistence, noting that even in historical Islamic accounts, the spread of Islam in the region was not driven by war or coercion but through wisdom and moral example.
“Don’t give space to those who want to inflame things. We want to elevate the status of the Malay people with our strength, sincerity, work, deeds and with our personality. Not to make others weak. It’s impossible to achieve one thing if we don’t build our own strength,” he said.
Last month, a century-old temple was at the centre of a controversy stemming from an announcement that it would be relocated from its present site to make way for a mosque.
Recently, a viral video of the altercation between DBKL enforcement officers and a balloon seller at Dataran Merdeka also sparked widespread public reaction on social media.
