KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 — Instead of agonising over current issues on the Internet or one’s racial identity, Malaysians should focus on helping the country moves forward, a panel of speakers said in a forum today.
In the forum titled “Malaysia 52 Years On: Sehati Sejiwa?”, speakers such as The Malaysian Insider’s Jahabar Sadiq and Malaysiakini’s Premesh Chandran offered ways that Malaysians could step in to improve the nation during turbulent times.
Jahabar said that Malaysians can start by reaching outside their comfort zone to engage with the different communities and hold parliamentary members accountable to their mistakes.
“Talk among ourselves, get out of comfort zone and walk down… go to Pantai Dalam, have a chat with people and talk about issues of the day. Get the MPs accountable, give them a report card,” The Malaysian Insider chief executive said.
He added Malaysians must take the initiative to help the country and not rely solely on the government.
Malaysiakini’s chief executive officer Premesh suggested that the middle income group could help by offering money or mentoring children from lower-income families.
“If people from middle-income rung can group together to reach out to the lower income group and help these people… sponsor a kid, whether financially or mentorship,” he said.
“One of the biggest changes we can do.”
Centre for Better Tomorrow (CENBET) co-president Gan Ping Sieu said Malaysians are overly obsessed with their racial identities and stressed there can be changes to how an individual identifies himself or herself.
Jahabar said it was pointless being obsessed with racial differences as many Malaysians come from multi-ethnic backgrounds.
It would be better, he said, to focus on helping fellow Malaysians improve their livelihood.
