No Need For Anti Racial Discrimination Law Say Academics

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Kartini Aboo Talib of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia asks whether society would become more civilised with more rules and controls in place.
PETALING JAYA: Academics have played down the need for an anti-racial discrimination law, saying sufficient legal provisions exist for the investigation and prosecution of offences involving racism.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) legal adviser Salawati Mat Basir said Malaysia already had the Sedition Act to curb incitement, while Kartini Aboo Talib, also of UKM, said there were over 20 laws that could be used to tackle such offences.
“Instead of introducing new laws, it’s more important to ensure that existing laws are being enforced and to raise greater awareness (about tolerance and diversity) among segments of the community influenced by issues involving racism,” Salawati told FMT.
Kartini, who has a doctorate in law, policy and society, said there were sufficient legal provisions for the authorities to employ, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015.
She said more needed to be done than just having laws against racism.
“Would introducing many rules and putting in place control measures make society better and more civilised?” said the deputy director of UKM’s ethnic studies institute.
A trader recently apologised to Malaysians, particularly the Indian community, for putting up a sign written in Malay which contained a racist slur against Indians and stating that his produce was not for sale to Indians.
The incident prompted DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng to propose the enactment of an anti-racial discrimination law to check and punish deliberate acts of racism.
He said it was necessary to prevent “extremist politicians or irresponsible individuals” from engaging in hate speech and provocative acts, or spreading lies against a particular community to divide Malaysians.
However, Kartini said it had been an isolated incident, adding that there was no need for knee-jerk reactions in the enactment of new laws. - FMT

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