The Malaysian Insight

FORMER Bar council president and the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) member Lim Chee Wee says newly launched Bebas is ready to fill the vacuum in promoting unity among Malaysians.

He said Bebas could fulfil this role which the NUCC had not covered.

The NUCC was set up on September 11, 2013 to advise the government on reducing racial polarisation and improving unity.

Lim said proposals for a Harmony bill were submitted in 2014 and 2015 and in January 2016 but there has been no news since.

“Bebas can fill this vacuum to reach out to the urban poor and the rural poor to tell them the importance of racial unity.

“All the activists should work together and engage community leaders to set up centres and implement what the government has failed to via the National Harmony Bill,” he said.

Bebas co-founder Azrul Mohd Khalib said strong commitment was important to abolish rules that were based on race.

“Also we must choose leaders who are brave, smart and committed to see through these changes.

“In the end, we deserve the governance that we get and have only ourselves to blame if we get weak representatives,” he said.

Malaysians cannot put their hope in the government to promote unity, as both sides – Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan – refuse to eradicate racial politics, said Bebas co-founder Boo Su-Lyn.

“I don’t believe that Malaysians are content with the stale old politics that both sides have to offer. We want to live in a country where were are judged not by the colour of our skin, but by what we stand for,” she said. – July 15, 2017.