Although Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi announced on Wednesday that the cabinet had decided that the reference to religion in new identity cards would not apply to non-Muslims, this does not make the new government decision any less retrogressive as far as nation-building is concerned.
The issue of two types of identity cards, one including religion for Muslims and another omitting religion for non-Muslims, is itself a distinctive form of separation of Malaysians into two categories, which runs counter to Vision 2020 to create a Bangsa Malaysia where Malaysians identify themselves as a Malaysian first above their racial, religious, linguistic and cultural differences.
Reservations and objections to the inclusion of religion in the new identity cards - even in the modified manner decided by the Cabinet - has nothing to do with the coming general election, but are based on very solid grounds that there should be no turning back of the clock of nation-building after 42 years, where Malaysians emphasise their common bond of national identity instead of highlighting their differences, whether racial, religious or cultural.
To remove the issue from the arena of electoral politics, I call on the Cabinet to suspend implementation of the inclusion of religion in the new identity cards, whether by the new method of specific reference for Muslims or omission in the case of non-Muslims, until after the next general election when there should be the fullest public consultation and discussion on the wisdom and desirability of having such an inclusion before a new decision is taken.
(22/10/99)