The letter by Lee Lam Thye in an English daily, that the ‘1Malaysia’ foundation believes that it should initiate a ‘Say no to Extremism’ campaign and call for unity in diversity would be a good initiative, provided extremism is clearly defined in the Malaysian context, its source, the actors and the type political deception of extremism that diverts Malaysians from focusing on real issues of concern such as human rights, poverty structures, corruption and abuse of power.

The call by discerning Malaysians to reject all forms of extremism would not bear any fruit, if there is no proper analysis of what actually troubles these extremist individuals or the NGOs associated with them.

It is obvious that since the general election in 2008 , the calls made to the political elites for accountability and transparency are turned into a racial or religous issues, that have strong emotional and political appeals.

Another aspect that I would like to stress is that in an inclusive community that the‘1Malaysia’ concept is trying to bring about cannot be derived merely by the principles of the constitution or the acceptance of mere diversity but it has to be felt through the institution of justice, the respect for the voters’ choice of government, equal access to legitimate financial resources related to state and federal relations and the fair distribution of wealth that gives ‘1Malaysia’ a broader inclusive outlook.

It is also important to note there is a constant denial and lack of acceptance on new political realities of change by certain influential politicians and individuals and this has brought about an extreme reactive political behavior.

Furthermore, the new political landscape which is made up of voters who are increasingly assertive and critical on how the economic pie is distributed is feared by certain politicians and their supporters who have benefitted from rent-seeking over the years so the convenient way to defend oneself is by taking an extreme attitude and behavior that would ignite the emotions of one's ethnic community with the objective of neutralising the impact of the truth related to economic distribution.

The fact that accountability is feared by extremists could be seen in their reactiona each time when there are questions on the implementation and the main beneficiaries of the New Economic Policy.

Therefore it is hope that the ‘1Malaysia’ foundation would spearhead the drive to reject extremism by addressing the issues above. The nation’s energy has been drained by communal issues and the sad reality is that fellow Malaysians are seen as a racial threat when issues that demand accountability are brought up.

The call for accountability does not infringe the constitutional rights of communities but on the contrary it ensures that the people who are really in need are taken care of. The extremists would not be happy with this contention.