The government still has the political will to promote moderation in Malaysia, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low.

Low said Malaysia needs to foster moderation in order to succeed economically, because pushing the economy would require creativity, innovation and a culture of openness.

The minister told a forum last night that if there was no political will in the country, movements like the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) would not exist, nor would the Department of National Unity and Integration.

He added that while the 1Malaysia concept initiated by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is often misunderstood, misused, or even “run down” by the public, it remains a government vision for the country and is still being promoted.

“I know that everybody runs down 1Malaysia, but it is still a government vision. Some may not be aligned to it, but a lot of people are aligning with it, including many cabinet ministers.

“It is a vision that we want to have, but, of course, to achieve that vision there are areas where people disagree with, or don’t know what it means, or people who say it but do not practise what it means.

“But still, the government continues to promote 1Malaysia and the government still has the Department of National Unity. It is a struggle – a balancing act that the government has to adjust to,” Low said.

He said this at a forum themed “The Great Debate: Everything in Moderation” in Kuala Lumpur last night

Low was asked by a member of the audience whether the government has the political will to promote moderation, or whether the component parties in the government have too much vested interest and are promoting racial disharmony instead.

'Moderation is no hot potato'

Several members of the panel disagreed with Low, including Selangor state executive councillor Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad ( right ), who pointed out that the forum was previously cancelled.

“I don’t think ‘moderation’ is such a hot potato compared with many other issues such as media freedom.

“Other issues would probably be more controversial, but suddenly even a forum on moderation had to be postponed,” Nik Nazmi ( photo ) said.

The forum was organised by the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and the University of Nottingham, and was originally slated to be held at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) on April 29.

However, it was cancelled at the 11th hour , after IIUM’s management supposedly disagreed with having an opposition politician, Nik Nazmi, on the panel.

GMM’s chief executive officer Saifuddin Abdullah subsequently offered to host the discussion, allowing the forum to take place yesterday.

Responding to Low, law professor Gurdial Singh Nijar said the withdrawal of the proposal to replace the Sedition Act with the National Harmony Act was done by politicians, which shows a lack of political will.

“This question of 1Malaysia and all that, I do accept the minister’s assurance that a lot of people believe in that. But basically, I come from Muar and the high school motto there is ‘Deeds. Not words’.

“If everything starts with ‘Salam 1Malaysia’, it becomes quite nauseous because becomes a mere routine. It is just a gesture that you just have to acknowledge, but there is no real content,” Gurdial Singh said.

Related story

Zapping racial politics takes time, says Low