PETALING JAYA, March 21 — Federal lawmakers were the worst offenders in an annual report tracking incidents of racism in Malaysia, representing more than a third of those Pusat Komas noted in its latest annual report released today.
Pusat Komas said the statistic illuminated the influence of racial and religious considerations in shaping the country’s policies.
“Looking at what MPs have been saying in Parliament through the Hansard we found 28 cases, which could be more. What’s mentioned in Parliament is very subtle and it might seem nothing’s wrong with their statements but if we look into it further it does align with our value principles.
“Like, for example, when an MP says, ‘There’s no need for ICERD as there is no discrimination’. This proves the MP is denying the existence of discrimination towards minorities when actually there’s been a number of cases of discrimination in the country.
“The MP is discriminating against people who are actually facing discrimination,” Umi Maisara Khamis, Pusat Komas programme coordinator, said during the launch of the report at PJ Community Library.
The report also noted the controversy among lawmakers when the Local Government and Housing Ministry proposed listing Chinese new villages as Unesco heritage sites.
The rest of the 73 cases in 2024 came from incitement (11 cases), business or workplace (eight cases), prejudice and provocation (seven cases), policies and politics (six cases), education (five cases), and xenophobia with two cases.
Since 2015, Pusat Komas has flagged 517 incidents of racism in its annual reports.
The highest number of cases was in 2022 at 82 as it coincided with the 15th general election. Incidents were lowest in 2020, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pusat Komas operations manager Faribel Fernandez said the reports indicate an alarming trend of open racism, especially on social media.
She also noted the continuation of blatant discrimination in business practices, such as job and rental advertisements that explicitly exclude specific ethnicities.
“The way forward is to establish new laws and an independent national harmony commission whilst strengthening the roles of Suhakam in monitoring and enforcement,” she said.
Pusat Komas also recommended that racial and religious initiatives be expanded with mandatory racial and interfaith dialogue in schools, workplaces, and local communities.
The racism report launch was attended by National Unity Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang.
