Always aim for a stronger unity in diversity

New Straits Times

23-05-2025

LETTERS: On May 21st, 2025, the United Nations marked World Day for Cultural Diversity — a day to recognise that cultural diversity is not a threat to unity but a pathway to peace and progress.
For most countries, this may be a ceremonial occasion — marked by cultural showcases or academic forums but in Malaysia, diversity is not an annual event.
It's our daily experience and way of life.
We are a country where different ethnicities, religions, languages and histories coexist. We celebrate multiple religious and cultural festivals as national holidays.
Our people switch languages mid-sentence and know enough about each other's customs to comfortably attend weddings, funerals, and open houses.
At its best, Malaysian diversity is a living model of tolerance.
It's one of the reasons tourists are drawn here. It gives our cuisine its unforgettable flavour, and our culture its richness.
But we must also admit that diversity here must never be taken for granted.
In fact, we often manage diversity as something fragile, even volatile — requiring careful "balancing", rather than shared nation-building.
Our public discourse is often shaped more by racial reflexes than by shared values.
Our politics, while officially multiracial, continues to have ethnic posturing.
And the national conversation on unity is often reduced to campaigns and slogans, not serious reform.
In this context, World Cultural Diversity Day should be treated as a mirror — one that reflects not only the richness of our multiculturalism, but also the unfinished business of building true national cohesion.
So what now? For Malaysia, the challenge is to become more united in our diversity.
That means shifting from mere tolerance to mutual respect.
It starts in the classroom, where we must encourage integration from a young age. It
extends to the workplace, where cultural empathy should be a skill.
And it must be championed by leaders — political, religious, and community — who
are willing to speak across their constituencies.
We don't need to reinvent Malaysia. We just need to help it grow into what it already
promises to be — a nation where differences are not just endured, but embraced.