Race Relations Act for racial harmony?

I refer to the proposed Race Relations Act which has been approved by the Cabinet to strengthen ties among the different races in the country.

Does the Act proposed create opportunities for Malaysians to explore and appreciate their differences and develop bonds among different ethnic and religious communities? After 51 years of BN rule, we have finally proposed a Race Relations Act to strengthen racial ties. This proves that the BN govt led by UMNO has been an utter failure in promoting racial harmony in Malaysia, even after the May 13 racial riots in 1969, we seem to have not learned anything, but have continued to go around in circles in trying to achieve national unity of all races.

It has been rightly pointed out that certain politicians have been the cause of racial disharmony. But in Malaysia, we have cases of the innocent being made scapegoats and conveniently detained under the ISA, while the ones who instigated it have gone scot free.

Having the Race Relations Act may not solve the fundamental issues at hand. It all boils down to our education system. A good education system must nurture in its students a desire to live in peace with people of different colour or creed, and to contribute to national unity. A multi-racial society like Malaysia, this is of vital and continued importance, but we still have cases where a mere suggestion by Tan Sri Abdul Khalid to open up UITM to a small percentage of non-Malays, have been met with vehement protests by students bordering on racial intolerance

When Malaysia experienced the racial riots in 1969, we faced a multitude of challenges to foster national unity, such as having the Rukun Negara and even the concept of Bangsa Malaysia during Dr. Mahathir's time.

But under Pak Lah's current tenure, we have failed to hear the concept of Bangsa Malaysia, but what we hear is 'Ketuanan Melayu' and the emphasis on Malay unity rather than Malaysian unity.

We have failed to respect other races and have failed to appreciate our unique qualities of being primarily Malaysian first, and our race as being secondary. BN's divide and rule policy have contributed to all this state of disharmony and disunity.

In conclusion, each of us, young or old, must play our part to maintain and improve racial harmony in our schools, universities, neighbourhood and public places. We cannot depend on the Race Relations Act alone to ensure racial ties are strengthened.
It all stems from our failed current education system and UMNO's politicians are the last people on earth who should be involved in the drafting of the proposed Act, as they should take 100% of the blame for the current poor race relations in Malaysia.