Govt needs to prioritise deserving groups in managing diverse needs — Expert

KUALA LUMPUR: Prioritising those who are deserving is vital in managing the diverse needs of Malaysians under the Malaysia MADANI framework, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Islam Hadhari Institute main research fellow Prof Dr Zaid Ahmad said.

This would ensure that every category would receive fair treatment and opportunities even though there were different needs in society, he added.

“Managing diverse needs is a big challenge, we cannot discard or reject this as the government interacts with the public, who have different backgrounds, every day, every time.

“We also cannot please everyone but if we prioritise that principle (on those who are more deserving) then we can create just treatment and opportunities for Malaysians,” he said as a guest on the Reaksi Bernama Radio programme entitled ‘Madani Government: Various Initiatives for People’s Prosperity’ here Monday.

As the Malaysia MADANI implementation enters its second year, Zaid cautioned that the Unity Government needed to take note of any issue that could be easily politicised by their rivals that could negatively influence public perception about the present administration.

This included how the government tackles the 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues, which are often manipulated on social media by unscrupulous parties for their own benefit.

“People find it easy to talk about the 3R issues in public spaces when there’s social media, so we need to look at it closely as recently there are groups that manipulate such issues to insinuate that 3R issues cannot be discussed at all.

“That is categorically untrue, “I don’t think we can’t talk about it at all but we shouldn’t misuse or manipulate such things.

“If there are legal violations, the public wants the authorities to take a firm stand, and at the same time, they must understand the red line that mustn’t be crossed,” Zaid said.

In conjunction with the oneyear anniversary of the Malaysia MADANI framework, Community Communications Department deputy director-general Datuk Ismail Yusop recommended that the Unity Government set up a national movement to promote the Malaysia MADANI agenda as it should not be viewed from a narrow political standpoint but as a national direction for the future that every Malaysian should strive to make a reality.

Socio-political analyst, Assoc Prof Dr Awang Azman Pawi concurred with Ismail’s views, stating that the public’s support is needed to ensure the success of Malaysia MADANI and the burden of implementing it should not rest only on the Prime Minister and senior leaders.

The Prime Minister introduced the Malaysia MADANI concept on Jan 19 last year.