KUCHING: While the newly launched National Unity Policy is a good mechanism to consolidate and integrate diversity, its success will require seriousness, commitment, sincerity and strong political will, especially by those at the helm of power, said Datuk Seri Doris Brodie.
The Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Women chief said that in order to gauge the policy’s success, the government must implement an evaluation or tracking mechanism as well as set a time frame.
“This is to ensure that this unification agenda amongst Malaysians is progressing well and truly realised.
“At the end of the day, our success story should be when all Malaysians feel worthy without inferiority and be proud as Malaysians. Hopefully this policy will sprout a common value that holds us together,” she said when contacted today.
She believed that the National Unity Policy was long overdue, seeing as Malaysia had existed for 57 years.
“Nonetheless, in my opinion, the recent launching of the National Unity Policy by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is a good initiative. As a nation, we continue to strive, improvise and move forward,” she said.
“The call by our premier to all quarters to work together to ensure that all the objectives of the policy are achieved and that the policy is formulated based on our Federal Constitution in line with our existing key policies like the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, the five-year Malaysia Plans, and so on births a new hope that this policy will effectively unite and bring cohesiveness amongst Malaysians,” she added.
Doris, who is also a political secretary to the chief minister, said this encompassed a wider spectrum and took a more inclusive approach.
Noting that the policy was drawn based on the concept of ‘Unity in Diversity’, she said this was apt considering that Malaysia was a very plural nation.
“We have a population of approximately 3.8 million people of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, and religions. Thus, in my opinion, it is crucial to not only recognise our diversity but more importantly to accept our differences and uniqueness,” she said.
In such an environment, she said no race should claim supremacy over others and discrimination and extremism must be eradicated.
“Our differences should be celebrated and seen as unique and a source of strength, and not as deficiencies.
“It is depressing to note that there are many irresponsible people out there who put a wedge to hurt us deeper and rift us wider by politicising our uniqueness, especially for political mileage and gain,” said Doris.
The National Unity Policy was launched by Muhyiddin on Monday to ensure that the nation remained strong with unity at its core.
