14 theSun | THURSDAY JUNE 25 2009

INTERVIEWS VIEWS

Lessons on race relations

by K.K. Tan also to women and Caucasians
from poor social backgrounds in
PROFESSOR Dr Aneez Manchester. He provides a shining
Esmail from Britain wears role model of what a world-class
many hats. As a former higher education institution should
Asian refugee from be doing - providing research,
Uganda, he became an education and health services with
accomplished racial social responsibility.
equality campaigner, Aneez was in Kuala Lumpur
medical trade last week, taking part in the Astro
unionist, medical Awani talk show, addressing a
practitioner, lecturer large public forum and participat-
(teaches senior ing in a closed-door dialogue with
medical stu- academicians, business people,
dents) and a media, NGOs and other civil so-
researcher ciety leaders about race relations
on public in Britain. My two earlier articles
health and race. about Aneez in this newspaper
He has also ad- attracted the attention of Datuk
vised the British court Dr Denison Jayasooria from the
system and govern- Institute of Ethnic Studies, UKM,
ment on public health or Kita, who was keen to tap his
issues. His official title knowledge and experiences in
is professor of medicine race relations.
and head of equality & With the support of its founding
diversity at the Univer- director Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul
sity of Manchester. Amri Baharuddin, Kita became
In his current posi- the main organiser for his visit
tion, Aneez ensures and it subsequently secured the
better access and partnership of 10 other organisa-
opportunities tions, including the Department of
for enrolment National Unity and Integration of
and promo- the Prime Minister’s Department
tion at his and the British High Commission.
university So what can we learn from
not only Aneez’s visit? This is my assess-
to ethnic ment of the talks and meetings
minori- during his four-day visit.
t i e s » Lesson 1. You can openly criti-
b u t cise the shortcomings or failings
of your own country and still be
patriotic. During his talks, Aneez
criticised the British system,
especially its past actions but
he also gave credit when it was
due such as the improved race
relations in Britain today and the
introduction of legislation to deal
with negative discrimination. He
Beyond made it clear he was grateful for
Race Britain which allowed him to stay
(and to become a citizen) after he
A new perspective and his family were expelled from
Uganda in 1973. The British High
Commissioner, Boyd McCleary,
remarked that he had no problem
with Aneez’s criticisms about Brit-
ish society. The envoy even praised
the “quality” of Aneez’s comments
and his passion for helping people
who were socially disadvantaged.
This is a sign of maturity of
how we in Malaysia should learn
to handle discord. We should not
be too sensitive and averse to criti-
cisms and we should also avoid
labelling people as “unpatriotic”
just because they express valid
criticisms or grouses.
» Lesson 2. To deal with racial
disharmony, we need to be more
open and honest but sensitive and
respectful. Sweeping the issue
under the carpet does not solve it;
if anything it would only allow the
We should problem to fester and grow until it
not be too explodes. Britain made significant
sensitive and progress in race relations due to
a large extent to its transparency
averse to in handling such an issue. The
criticisms and problem for Malaysia appears to be
we should both a structural (race-based politi-
also avoid cal system) and cultural (our Asian
value to be reserved and inhibited
labelling from speaking out openly). It would
people as take much effort, time and the po-
“unpatriotic” litical will of our leaders to address
just because this problem. We should encour-
they express age more people to speak out and
express their views honestly and
valid criticisms respectfully so that we can better
or grouses. understand such feelings as a first
step towards addressing them.
» Lessons 3. Like in Britain, we
would need to make a strong
“business” case for racial equal-
ity and unity much like the case
about women’s rights. We need to
impress upon policy makers and
the public that meritocracy drives
economic development (perform-
ance, competitiveness, productiv-
ity and wealth creation), stamps
the brain drain and improves the
quality of life for all races. It would
also encourage groups which are
assisted by affirmative action to
be more self-reliant and capable
in future.
» Lesson 4. Everywhere in the
world, to promote unity, we need
to move away from a single iden-
tity of ourselves to multi-identities.
Each of us is more than just our
race or religion or culture on its
own. Studies on a global basis
have shown that moving towards
a single identity is often the cause
of social conflict or war. In Aneez’s
case, he is more than just a Briton
or an Asian or a Muslim. As hu-
mans, we have more in common
than our differences and this is a
guiding principle we must use to
strive for racial unity. Sociologi-
cal studies have also shown that
the more social inequality in a
country, the greater the incidence
of racial unrest, crime and other
social problems. Therefore, racial
harmony can be better achieved
if we improve social equality as a
whole.
» Lesson 5. We need to conduct
more research and surveys in or-
der to have sufficient data and facts
about ethnicities and social back-
grounds, including the real feelings
of all races at the ground level.
Without credible and relevant data,
it would difficult to make a case for
any policy changes required for
improving race relations.
» Lesson 6. Affirmative (or positive-
discrimination) action and quotas
may be necessary to address severe
social inequalities but only for a
limited timeframe. Such actions
and policies on a long-term basis
should be based solely on income
so that only the poor or socially dis-
advantaged benefit from them. The
example in the United States given
by Aneez is apt here. If not for the
civil rights laws and the affirmative
policies introduced in the sixties to
help African-Americans, Barack
Obama would not have made it
to be a top lawyer and to occupy
the White House. But Obama also
stated recently that perhaps such
policies should be reviewed and
he felt his children, for example,
should no longer benefit from af-
firmative action and the children
of a poor white American should
be given such help instead.
» Lesson 7. The need, if any, for
race relations’ (or an anti-discrimi-
nation) legislation in Malaysia
should be understood properly.
Aneez shared why in the British
context, the Race Relations Act of
1976 and the amendments of 2001
have greatly ensured better equal-
ity and fairness for all. If we feel
we need a similar law to give the
“man on the street” an avenue to
seek justice when the system fails
or mistreats him/her, it should be
a broad-based and inclusive one
covering other socially disad-
vantaged groups as well such as
women and disabled people. An
important point to note is that legis-
lation does not change the attitude
or viewpoints of many people; only
their behaviour. You cannot force
people to like another race or eth-
nicity but with a good law, you can
change their behaviour or actions
to ensure fairer implementation of
policies and approach. Education
about racial harmony is a long-
term process, in the meantime,
well thought-out legislation can
minimise the injustice suffered by
any aggrieved party as a result of
any bad implementation by certain
officials acting on their whims and
fancies. Abuse of legislation, which
happens to any law, is not a good
reason for not having it at all.
The writer is the CEO of a think-
tank and strategic consultancy firm
based in Kuala Lumpur. He can be
contacted at kktan@jukenworld.
com

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Govt must haul up Komuter service

I REFER to “Komuter service
much improved” (Letters, June
17). While I agree that the
“technical problems” plaguing
the Komuter service have been
greatly reduced, the service is
no where near improved.
Delays are rampant. Worse,
train cancellations are made at
anytime with no notice, causing
commuters to be stranded.
The recent introduction
of hybrid trains and queue
systems are among measures
taken by KTMB to tackle its
poor service.
However, the hybrid trains,
which are supposed to reduce
crowds during peak hours, do
not appear to run on a fixed
schedule. Often, they are in
service only after peak hours.
The queue system is not
effective because train drivers
rarely stop at the designated
spot in stations.
The Komuter service started
in 1993 with 62 trains. Now, only
23 trains are still running.
A stunning 63% of its fleet
is out of service with no new
trains in sight. With more sta-
tions, routes extended, and a
higher number of commuters,
the quality of the Komuter
service will only go down rather
than up. The government must
step in to improve this mode of
public transport.
YKN
Kepong