Discourse welcome, but watch what you say, says Idris Jala

Putrajaya would allow public discourse on subjects which are of interest to the public, but not to the extent that it causes fault lines in the fabric of Malaysian society, a minister said today.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala was referring to the recent string of sedition cases by Putrajaya against opposition lawmakers, an academic and a journalist.

"The government will allow discourse of various issues but not to the extent of the discourse causing fault lines and the destruction of the social fabric in Malaysia," Idris said at the King's Discourse Malaysia: a frank discussion.

"There are a lot of problems to be resolved in Malaysia, a lot of polarities to be managed."

The event was organised by the King's College London Alumni Malaysia and held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

In the week just before and after Malaysia's 57th Merdeka celebrations, Putrajaya had been criticised for using the Sedition Act to crack down on dissenting voices.

The late Karpal Singh, Batu MP Tian Chua, Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad and Seri Delima state assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer have fallen afoul of the Sedition Act in 2014.

Azmi Sharom, the Universiti Malaya law professor, was charged with sedition last week over an article entitled: "Take Perak crisis route for speedy end to Selangor impasse, Pakatan told".

The latest individual to fall afoul of the Sedition Act is Malaysiakini journalist Susan Loone, in connection with an article which allegedly defamed the police.

On Wednesday, Sabah Reform Party member David Orok was charged with sedition for allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad in a social media posting.

"This is a classic example of polarity, it is not a problem to be solved but rather, an issue which all sides involved need to find a compromise," Idris said.

"We have the rich people versus poor people polarity, my religion versus your religion, it can only be resolved through compromise and trade-offs."

Idris said differences of opinion needed to be shared while the focus was retained on the main issue, adding that constructive discourses were useful.

"We must not be afraid to have a conflicted and heated discussion as long as there is an agreement on the way to move forward."

He said social media was an important tool today while expressing dismay that there was a lot of negative opinions being circulated.

"How did the London riots of 2011 erupt? It was because people were sending messages via social media that it was possible to raze government buildings to the ground."

He cited the December 2010 Arab Spring demonstrations, protests, riots and civil wars in the Middle East as another example of the impact of social media.

"We cannot run away from social media nor can we reject Facebook and Twitter. We have to embrace them but at the same time, we cannot resort to knee-jerk reactions."

Idris said the impact of social media had grown to such an extent that it could affect investor confidence, hence the need for responsible use of social media.

He also called on Malaysians not to be worried about diversity in local and international corporations which operated in Malaysia, saying being myopic and insular was useless.

"We are a small economy of 29 million people, we should not be aiming for handouts from Putrajaya or government contracts," Idris said.

"Malaysians should be aiming for the global market, they should be thinking about the different ways to market their products abroad and making them appealing to foreign markets.

"It is time to stop this nonsensical debate about the size of the cake in Malaysia and quarrelling about government contracts." – September 6, 2014.