What Can We Do To Make Hate Speech Irrelevant

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Nobody should ever be arrested or have criminal action taken against them just for saying or writing things. In my personal opinion, it shouldn’t matter even if it is hate speech.
The reason for this is that I believe in total freedom of speech, and if anything, there should just be societal censorship instead of a systematic one.
But I know that I will have my critics on this issue and they will say that total freedom is risky and impractical.
How can you be sure that an entire society would make the right decision if we only depend on societal censorship? For the most part, I can understand where they are coming from. Sometimes I lose hope in society too.
For the time being, I can go with the flow just as long as there isn't an abuse of laws or suppression of expression. So having properly defined laws and a responsible and fair government is very important. But freedom of speech is just a side issue and not what I really want to discuss.
The main objective of today’s piece is about PAS’ Maran MP Ismail Abd Muttalib’s questions in Parliament recently. As reported, he asked several questions deemed racially charged and could border on racist speech.
Maran MP Ismail Abd MuttalibThe first is one related to the continued existence of new villages (or kampung baru).
“Why do the majority of new villages, which were initially formed to place groups involved in communism, still need to be maintained?
“Are there any communist ideas that still exist in these new villages and will the government suggest unifying these new villages under the same ministry?” his question read.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail replied that new villages were formed during the height of the communist insurgency and it was to protect the Chinese community from being threatened or used for logistical or informational help.
They are not necessarily communists or sympathisers themselves.
But that is beside the point. New villages are a part of Malaysia’s history and these places have grown and developed into a significant part of Malaysia too.
I have many friends who grew up in new villages and are as equally Malaysian as I am with no differences other than being of a different race (and at times religion too).
For context, Ismail also asked several other questions. He asked for justification from the government for ‘recognising’ citizens born after independence regardless of ‘skin colour’.
Another question was related to the banning of the azan in mosques (lowering of the volume) in an unnamed state.
If put together, anyone can see that there is an obvious racial theme going on with his line of questions. Of course, Ismail can deny it, and he has been.
With regard to his question on new villages, he said that his intentions were to suggest the community properly assimilate with the rest of Malaysia.
As for the one related to citizenship and skin colour, he denies being racist and that he really meant it for foreigners.
What about the question on the azan being banned? That is an issue PAS has always brought up since 2011, when in fact, it is untrue and fake information.
To that question, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Mohd Na’im Mokhtar replied curtly, saying that there has been no such thing so far. What the issue really refers to is that in 2011, Penang banned the use of loudspeakers when reciting the Quran before dawn and not the azan itself.
It was a move to be considerate of other communities and was agreed upon by then Penang mufti Hassan Ahmad, the late PAS leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, and many other religious leaders in the country. The decision was actually advice that was made and given by the Penang Fatwa Council itself.
Saifuddin responded to the citizenship question by saying that the granting of citizenship is based on the laws enshrined in the Federal Constitution and that all applications are examined according to the provisions of the law without any distinction of ancestry or the skin colour of the applicant.
Even though there have been a few leaders and politicians who have said that Ismail could have action taken against him for being seditious, I personally don’t believe that Ismail should be arrested over the matter.
A man (or elected representative) should have the freedom to ask anything he wants.
Deprive them of attention
I despise politicians who bring up racial and religious issues just for the sake of stoking heated emotions to garner support just as much as most of you do.
But the best action to take is to negate what they say, condemn and counter the issues they raised, and then just ignore them so they get no more attention.
The answers that the ministers gave were straight to the point and matter-of-fact. Then we have others condemning the questions saying that there is no place for racist rhetoric. More high-profile leaders should condemn it too so that our anti-racism and multicultural beliefs become louder than his racist remarks.
Of course, we should all condemn it as well. Like it or not, when Ismail raised those questions, it does become an opportunity for the issues to be discussed.
In any matter that creates a divide, good, mature and civilised public discourse is always the best way to raise awareness of what is supposed to be the right way.
The next step is to ignore Ismail, ignore the issues that he has raised and ignore the people who are like him. The media need to play a role in this too. Being responsible journalists doesn’t mean just reporting everything objectively. It can never be as simple as that.
Sure, we report it when it happens, but we must also consider the impact it has on society and how our role as journalists will influence that impact. Peace, harmony and understanding among all should prevail.
We have to make sure that hate speech is eliminated and that society will mature so that these people who insist on spewing it will soon realise that nobody will pay attention anymore if they persist.
We must silence the racists and racist messages not by locking them up but by making the messages irrelevant and insignificant.
Looks like freedom of speech is not just a backdrop for my piece this week as I said in the beginning. Oh well, it all goes hand in hand with wanting to create a better Malaysian society and better Malaysians. Honestly, I think we can do it. We can actually make our country a better place. So let’s get to it. - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary film-maker, journalist and academic. The Sheraton move really frustrated him but maybe after November 2022, he can start feeling better again. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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