PETALING JAYA: Unity is like glass - once shattered, it is hard to piece back together. And one of the elements that disrupts unity is sensitive debate on race and racism. The people who have the responsibility to uphold unity in Malaysia are those elected by the people, and theSun's columnist K.K. Tan had proposed that a public declaration against racial chauvinism be signed to discourage politicians from playing the race card. He said racism, in its original meaning, does not exist in Malaysia as it is defined by systems where one ethnic group is suppresed by the other. Gerakan think tank SEDAR executive director of Khaw Veon Szu supports Tan's proposal.

"It is time to hold our politicians accountable for their words and deeds that are fanning destructive racism."

"A public declaration against racial chauvinism could be one of the methods to hold our politicians of all stripes accountable," Khaw told theSun.

"By signing and making public his or her commitment to an anti-racialist position, if one breaks the pledge, after getting elected, the act of breaching the antiracialist pledge would constitute sufficient grounds (for voters) to reject him or her in the next election," he said.

He said having discussions or forum alone on racial discord is not enough.

"The society must provide 'carrots' to reward politicians who are committed to fighting racial chauvinism and 'sticks' to penalise those who are only good at talking, or worse, instigating racial chauvinism."

 "As long as there is a market for racial chauvinism, our politicians will play the race card for cheap, instant political mileage," said Khaw. 

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