Despite the vitriol on the Internet, Malaysia is far from being torn apart, said Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong.

Speaking up against the rising number of “racist” comments online, he said that Malaysians must stand firm against such extremist behaviour.

“A lot of my friends overseas think that Malaysia is being torn apart all the time, because we have a lot people posting a lot of comments that give the impression that the country is being torn apart, which is not true, okay?

“When we have freedom on the Internet, some people are doing a lot of postings, creating a lot of reaction.

“The problem is that a lot of people are using fictitious names, fictitious accounts. Even one posting we can create so much anger. This must stop,” he said at Gerakan headquarters today.

'Pull to the centre'

Speaking during the party’s Merdeka celebrations, Mah, who was dressed in Indian traditional costume, said that it is thus important to live the ‘1Malaysia’ slogan and “pull to the centre”.

“I think the message is very important, especially now when we feel that there seems to be a lot of racist comments being made, a lot of postings on the internet (and) a lot of extremists who are dividing the nation,” he said.

“When you have two extremes pulling us apart, we should pull to the centre,” he said.

He also said that dialogue is important in a diverse country like Malaysia, where it is impossible for one side to be right all the time.

“There are groups that do not want to discuss, do not want to compromise, only they are right, or only their version is right, they did not want to open their minds.  

“I think this is dangerous, and not good for the country. We need to practice moderation,” he said.

PHUNG YIE WEN is a trainee journalist at Malaysiakini .