Malaysia's premier calls for reconciliation
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says his government will soon implement a national reconciliation programme to ease escalating religious and racial tensions.
Najib's initiative came amid a series of incidents apparently aimed at stirring religious and racial tensions.
These included the bombing of a Catholic Church and the throwing of a slab of pork at a mosque in the northern state of Penang. "What we want to do is to help inspire the rakyat (people) to respect and reconnect with one another so as to make Malaysia a better home for all of us," he said in a blog post.
Malaysia's population of nearly 30 million people is composed of 60 per cent Malays, 23 per cent Chinese, 8 per cent Indians, and the rest are local ethnic groups and other races. Racial tensions have remained high since last year's election, which the ruling coalition narrowly won. Najib accused the ethnic
Chinese minority of voting for the opposition. The ruling United Malays National Organization railed at the Chinese, with some Malay newspapers saying that if the Chinese did not like the way the country is run, they were free to migrate.
Najib said his new programme, which will be implemented in the coming months, "is based on the principles of respect, working and playing together, and the spirit of give and take."
- Sapa