Chairperson of the CIMB banking group and younger brother to Prime Minister Najib Razak, Nazir Razak spoke out yesterday against last weekend’s violent clashes inside and in front of Bukit Bintang’s Low Yat Plaza.
Taking once more to his personal Instagram account, the increasingly outspoken banker posted a muhibbah image of multiracial Malaysian children in a parade, and included the caption:
As with most sociopolitical statements Nazir has made recently, the post received a ton of likes and many supportive comments from Malaysian netizens, many of whom are fully behind the notion of (somehow) criminalising racism under Malaysian law.
In fact, the Malay Mail‘s Azdee Amir gathered the reaction of several notable thinkers, activists, and politicians on the matter.
Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, Parit Buntar MP and a prominent PAS moderate, commented: “I agree that racism in our country must be curbed and controlled to prevent certain issues or incidents from being exploited to serve racist agendas. We need a multi-pronged approach to combat racism, so we should push for the implementation of an anti-racism law.”
Mujahid also namechecked former Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Global Movement of Moderates chairperson Saifuddin Abdullah of UMNO as a co-campaigner for a national policy on racial harmony.
Saifuddin is said to be Nazir’s pick to lead an as-yet unnamed NGO aimed at uniting Malaysians of all races and creeds.
Longtime social activist and former DAP politician Lee Lam Thye also chimed in with Nazir’s call, saying, “If anyone commits an act of racism, then appropriate action must be taken according to the law. The Low Yat Plaza incident clearly showed that despite 58 years of independence, race relations in our beloved country are still fragile, and a small spark can ignite a fracas.
“Such incidents must be avoided at all costs, and we must learn from the dark past or the entire nation will suffer.”
Over the past weekend, hundreds of Malays converged in front of Low Yat Plaza seeking justice and retribution from what they termed as “dishonest Chinese traders”. Several people were injured, including two members of the media, and some RM70,000 in property damage was incurred.
The PDRM has stated repeatedly that the tensions were sparked off by a handphone theft in the gadget mall on Saturday and an unruly reprisal by the guilty parties on an Oppo store, and not because of racial enmity.
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