The restrained and responsible use of security measures is vital in a multicultural society to ensure healthy relations among the various communities, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today.

"We have in place tough laws and some of them are preventive in nature. While we would prefer not to have them, we do not apologise for them.

"They have been legislated through the democratic and legal process," he was quoted as saying in a Bernama report.

The premier said in his keynote address themed 'The challenges of multireligious, multi-ethnic and multicultural societies' at the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

About 400 participants from 50 countries are attending the three-day summit which gathered a large number of media practitioners.

Social contracts

Abdullah said the failure to put in place viable social contracts is at the root of many conflicts afflicting nation states around the world.

He said any society, especially diverse multicultural societies, would benefit immensely from a social contract as it provides a framework for political, social and economic intercourse, that was agreed upon by all the communities.

"It (social contract) reduces mixed understanding and conflict of interest and allows people to focus upon improving their lives, peace and harmony," he said.

The premier noted that some multi-ethnic countries, once stable and touted as the model for others, had lapsed into a prolonged internecine warfare while some were prone to frequent outbreaks of communal and sectarian violence and there were others which simply disintegrated.

On the contrary, he said Malaysia was able to build a consensus among all the communities on the character of the nation "we wanted to live in, and our respective rights and obligations within it."

"This is our social contract, solemnised on no less than a legally-binding constitution. A contract built on the spirit of give and take. There is a conscious commitment to share power among all the groups and between a federal centre and the constituent states," he added.

Citizenship right

Abdullah said Malaysia's approach was inclusive, empowering all the ethnic and religious groups, by giving them a share in decision-making.

"Perhaps the most significant aspect of the contract is the agreement by the indigenous people to grant citizenship to the immigrant Chinese and Indian communities. This changed the character of the nation from one that originally belongs to the indigenous people to one that Chinese and Indian citizens could also call their own," he added.

As such, he said, Malaysia's experience, based on strategy of inclusion participation and respect for the legitimate rights of all ethnic religious and cultural groups and the just recognition of the special position for the indigenous people, was the best formula to manage its diversity.

Abdullah added that the social contract would fail if it was not bolstered by a growing economy as income disparities between various communities were unhealthy for communal harmony.

"The failure to address this issue was the primary reason for the racial riot of May 13 1969, an event that almost tore the nation apart," he said.

The prime minister said Malaysia had found that economic growth and more importantly the equitable sharing of the fruits of such growth have a positive impact on the stability of multicultural societies.

Complicated process

On the challenges in managing a diverse society, Abdullah said there was no magic potion to overcome these challenges especially when nations are young and institutions are still in the early stages of development.

He added that globalisation, the information and communication technology revolution and the appeal of democracy had also made the governance of multicultural societies more difficult in some instances.

"Managing societies with many cultures, ethnic groups and religions is extremely complicated, especially if the foundation of these societies is not yet secure," he said.

Abdullah also outlined education as a key instrument in Malaysia's efforts to create a cohesive and flourishing multicultural society and in this context, the country had defined several fundamental goals.

He said these were to foster a common national consciousness, to inculcate values and behavior and support healthy multicultural societies and to promote inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony through socialisation.

"We have not been fully successful in the pursuit of all these goals and particularly with regard to the last. Parallel streams of education, each effectively serving only one community, led to segregation of sorts.

"However, we continue to seek creative and politically feasible ways of promoting interaction and integration," he added.

Meanwhile, the premier said the world was more inclined to search for differences rather than recognise communalities.

"We tend to reject diversity rather than embrace it and this is true even in a relatively homogenous society. But societies that are multireligious, multi-ethnic and multicultural are particularly vulnerable," he said.

On the media, Abdullah said it was well placed to make positive contributions through the process of bringing people closer together and assuming the role as the world's eyes and ears.

"The genocide and brutal disempowerment of many indigenous people and the seizure of their territories that were carried out by more powerful immigrant communities with impunity just a few hundred years ago are less possible today. No longer can such action be concealed from the outside world, the global media will quickly expose the crime," he added.