Pointing to the UK’s abolition of slavery as an example, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low said Malaysia still needs time to transition beyond race-based politics.

He said the process to abolish slavery through legislation in the UK  took over two decades, while the US face many social upheavals over the past two centuries to reach its progress today.

“Twenty-five years (to abolish slavery). Why? Because there are entrenched interests involved.

“So you need time for society to mature and ultimately, the young would have a different opinion especially with the existence of social media,” Low ( photo ) told reporters when met at the sidelines of a forum last night.

The slave trade was banned by the British parliament in 1807, while slavery itself was abolished in 1833 – a period of 26 years.

“I’m not trying to justify (race-based politics), but we are still a very young nation […] It is a period of change that we need to go through, because the people and the institutions are like that.

“But there are people who want to fight for this change, and you have to deal with some people who have that sort of agenda (race-based politics),” he said.

Low said he believes that race-based politics will eventually become irrelevant, and cited a survey by The Star to back his point.

Some consider it important

The survey had found that 69 percent of its 5,070 respondents identify themselves as “Malaysians first”, while another 21 percent identify themselves by race.

Low said race-based politics still exists because a portion of the electorate still consider it to be important, and politicians will continue to pander to these voters as long as it can ensure their victory in the polls.

However, this group of voters are now shrinking, he said, and in time politicians would have to adapt too.

He also lauded Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s call for Umno to steer clear of racism as a positive message to the party and voters.

To a question on why Malaysia’s 53 years of nationhood is not enough, Low countered that other nations are much older and had painful lessons to learn from, such as the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the two world wars faced by the US.

In comparison, Malaysia has been relatively unscathed apart from the racial riots of May 13, 1963, and the recession of 1997, he said.

“Of course I don’t hope that we go through bad times, but people go through different trials, bad times, and sometimes these are the mother of change.

“Malaysia is… every year we have everything. How many years do we have full employment? As long as I can remember,” he said.

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