Articles

The Melaka snap election was held in November 2021 due to the ongoing political crisis. As physical gatherings were restricted to curb the spread of COVID-19, political campaigns were conducted online. Pusat KOMAS collaborated with Zanroo Malaysia to monitor social media conversations during the Melaka state elections which took place from 1 to 22 November 2021. Public conversations, statements and actions of politicians and political parties were monitored and documented to see whether there...

Pusat KOMAS is disappointed with the recurring use of race and religion by politicians and political parties in their electoral campaigns. Based on the recent statement released by Architects of Diversity (AOD), at least 17 uses of the race and religion card were detected in the 15th Melaka state election campaign. Yet again, candidates and parties from all three coalitions, Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan, were found to leverage on the use of race and religion in...

The recent racially charged statement made by a ruling party government-affiliated political party member against a national badminton player was uncalled for. It goes against the spirit of the recently announced ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ concept by the Prime Minister, the social cohesion that we have been working to build and sportsmanship altogether. For the past few months, we have been witnessing an increase in individuals, groups and political parties stoking racial and religious sentiments be...

The Covid-19 pandemic which was exacerbated by the recent political instability has brought Malaysia to a standstill, impacting all Malaysians regardless of their race and religion negatively. Now that the political situation in Malaysia has been "resolved" temporarily, we in Pusat Komas are hopeful that the newly minted Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri will be sincere in his efforts to steer all Malaysians, regardless of their race and religion out from this pandemic. Additionally, we...

Pusat KOMAS is appalled by the recent press statement issued by Malaysia’s Minister of Health, Dato’ Sri Dr. Adham Baba on 23 June 2021 responding to a news article titled “Teliti Semula Urusan Pengambilan Pegawai Perubatan”. We echo the calls by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) that racial and religious prejudices should not be used to influence the selection of certain contract officers for appointment to permanent service. Race, religion, ethnicity and gender should not be a...

The Harmony Cluster of the CSO Platform for Reform condemns the religiously motivated physical violence that took place in the form of a brawl in Sungai Way, Petaling Jaya on 11 June 2021. Based on the Petaling Jaya Chief of Police press release on 11 June 2021, we believe that this issue can be avoided if the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 is respected without revealing the customer’s information. Additionally, the food deliveryman should be professional in carrying out his duty of...

Photo credit to IndiaToday Pusat KOMAS welcomes the ceasefire announcement by both the Israel and Hamas government after the recent unjust, inhumane and disproportionate military actions by the Israeli “apartheid” regime against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank which has lasted for more than a week. The exchange of fire between the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and Hamas that broke out before the Aidilfitri celebrations was not a new incident, but a continuation of a long-running...

Pusat KOMAS commends the swift action of the Southern Klang police department in detaining four individuals that were suspected to be involved in physically and verbally abusing two bodyguards on 14 April 2021. Additionally, KOMAS echoes the South Klang Police Department’s reminder that members of the public or any affiliated individuals should not sensationalize this issue as a racial issue in the social media. We believe that this incident should not have happened in a pluralistic society...

Responding to the opinion piece by Azril Mohd Amin, the founder of Centre for Human Rights Research & Advocacy (CENTHRA) – “How to not deepen divisions, spread misunderstanding” published in New Straits Times on April 2 2021, Pusat KOMAS welcomes CENTHRA’s optimism and interpretation of the findings reported in the “Malaysia Racial Discrimination Report 2020” that racism and discrimination, while existent, are not serious or widespread in Malaysia. At Pusat KOMAS we are ever hopeful that...

The surge of racism has created grave concerns in our nation today. Unchecked racism could potentially spark extremism. Extremists reject universal human rights, have no empathy for the rights and content of other people – that is people other than their own. They reject diversity and pluralism. The 10th National Conference on 22nd March 2021 – Racism Sparks Extremism organized by Pusat KOMAS examined these factors in detail by examining the current realities on the ground. Speakers on the...