Zaid Ibrahim’s new moderate Malay portal to counter racial, religious extremism

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim believes the current prime minister is the weakest in the nation's history, and this has resulted in 'people not respecting the law' in racial and religious issues. – The Malaysian Insider pic, February 21, 2015.Concerned about fraying racial and religious relations and Putrajaya's weak leadership, former Umno minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has set up a "liberal moderate Malay" website to educate Malaysians on good governance and leadership.

The Nasionalis website set up two weeks ago is aimed at creating a culture of discussion, peaceful debate and understanding of issues instead of making provocative statements.

"I wanted a 100% Malay-language portal focussing on political education and issues the country needed to talk about, especially among the Malay community," he told The Malaysian Insider.

Muslim Malays are multi-racial Malaysia's majority ethnic group, constituting about 51% of the nation's 30 million population.

Describing the news portal as a sensible Malay language site, Zaid expressed concerns that the Malays were being influenced by ideologies of racial and religious extremism which he felt would be detrimental to both the community and the country in the long term.

"People are not respecting the law, they are saying whatever they want, which is not good for the country.

"Things are quite bad in terms of racial and religious relations. Leaders are weak, it feels leaderless, and hence, things get worse," said the former de facto law minister who served for six months under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after the watershed 2008 general election.

"When the country is faced with issues, the prime minister needs to take charge."

He said the current prime minister is the weakest since 1957 when the country achieved its independence, which he added, explained why tensions are on a high with strident voices from right wing groups.

This is where he hoped Nasionalis can play a role, to be a platform to educate people on the need to discuss and debate rationally.

Nasionalis, Zaid said, is not affliated to any political party, adding that it is independent and is for the people.

"Zaid Ibrahim is pro-rakyat and pro-Malaysia," he said, adding that the writers for the site are Malaysians of various races, which he welcomed and encouraged.

However, he refused to say who else was backing the portal, beyond saying they are "friends".

Zaid acknowledged the comparisons between Nasionalis and his popular blog www.zaid.my, but pointed out the blog is mostly in English and less newsy, compared with the site which offers a mixture of news and commentaries.

Race and religious relations have worsened after GE13 last year when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) blamed its heavy losses on the Chinese minority, fuelled by Malay-Muslim groups that seek more puritanical Islamic laws across Malaysia.

Malay rights groups like Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) have claimed that Malay rights were being threatened but their often inflammatory statements and actions have been denounced by moderate Malaysians, including Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, who said their actions went against the very values that the nation was founded upon.

Critics have also accused Najib of pandering more to conservative views in his party, Umno, so as to remain in power.

Against this backdrop, a group of 25 eminent Malays comprising retired high ranking civil officials had published an open letter last December asking for a rational dialogue on the position of Islam in a constitutional democracy.

Besides garnering support from 22 Muslim activists and 93 civil society groups, the open letter has inspired Malaysians, fed up with fraying race and racial relations, to start similar petitions online.

Earlier this week, 58 former students of Najib's alma mater also penned an open letter to Najib calling for an end to extremism.

The former students of St John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur class of 1975, where the prime minister himself had studied, urged the country's leadership to take a strong position against racism, religious bigotry and extremism, and themselves pledged to "always walk on the path of moderation".A screengrab of the Nasionalis website started by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim to address racial and religious extremism among Malays. – February 21, 2015.

- TMI