I refer to the proposed Race Relations Act which has been approved by the cabinet to strengthen ties among the different races in the country.

Does the act proposed create opportunities for Malaysians to explore and appreciate their differences and develop bonds among different ethnic and religious communities? After 51 years of BN rule, we can finally have an Act to strengthen racial ties.

This proves that the BN government led by Umno has been an utter failure in promoting racial harmony in Malaysia. Even after the May 13 racial riots in 1969, we seem to have not learned anything, but have continued to go around in circles trying to achieve national unity.

It has been rightly pointed out that certain politicians have been the cause of racial disharmony. But in Malaysia, we have cases of innocent people being made scapegoats and conveniently detained under the ISA, while the ones who instigated the problem have gone scot free.

However, having the Race Relations Act may not solve the fundamental issues at hand. It all boils down to our education system. A good education system must nurture in its students a desire to live in peace with people of different races and religion, and to contribute to national unity.

In a multi-racial society like Malaysia, this is of vital and continued importance, but we still have cases where a mere suggestion by the Selangor menteri besar to open up UiTM to a small percentage of non-Malays, was met with vehement protests by students. These angry students displayed a shocking level of racial intolerance.

After the racial riots of 1969, during Dr Mahathir’s tenure as prime minister, various programmes were implemented, including emphasising the concept of Bangsa Malaysia, to foster racial unity.

However, under Pak Lah's current tenure, we have failed to hear the concept of Bangsa Malaysia. Instead what is being emphasised now is 'Ketuanan Melayu’ , prompting many Malaysians to ask if Malay is more important than Malaysian unity.

We have failed to respect other races and have failed to appreciate our unique qualities of being primarily Malaysian first, and our race second. BN's divide and rule policy has contributed to all this disharmony and disunity.

In conclusion, each of us, young or old, must play our parts in maintaining and improving racial harmony in schools, universities, neighbourhood and public places. We cannot depend on the Race Relations Act alone to ensure racial ties are strengthened.

It all stems from our failed education system and Umno politicians are the last people on earth who should be involved in the drafting of the proposed Act, as they should take 100 percent blame for the current poor race relations in Malaysia.