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We are committed to staying the course to strengthen

1Malaysia and transform the nation.”

By embracing inclusiveness, compared to other multiracial

and multireligious countries, Malaysia has been able to sustain

relative peace and harmony. However, there are occasions

when divergent views and differences in perception and inter-

pretation result in conflict. This is exacerbated when issues of

contention involve religion, language and culture, all of which

can become highly emotive and explosive. Fortunately, few

such conflicts have resulted in bloodshed.

The challenge of sustaining harmony and unity remains

real and relevant – hence the need to continually remind

ourselves of the challenge and to constantly renew and

nurture the sense of oneness and the unity of purpose, as

enunciated in 1Malaysia.

1Malaysia emphasizes the attitude and fortitude of accept-

ance among the multiracial citizens, whereby a race will

accept the uniqueness of another race as it is, so as to live in

respect of each other as citizens of a nation.

A foundation to all this is the principle of justice for

all, which entails that the fate of a race will be taken care

of and no party will be marginalized. The different levels

of racial development must be considered where justice is

concerned. Thus, government policies and constitutional

allocations which provide protection to those who require

it will still be implemented.

1Malaysia is a continuance of the nation’s development

agenda. To achieve development for the nation, the people

must be developed first, and this is done by first nurturing the

attitude of acceptance and fortitude among races, which brings

about an unwavering unity. By achieving unity, matters pertain-

ing to national development will be carried out smoothly.

The Department of National Unity and Integration

(JPNIN) under the Prime Minister’s Department is the fore-

most agency responsible for the challenging task of managing

unity and integration in Malaysia. JPNIN was established

following the racial riot on 13 May 1969, which raised many

concerns on the importance of dealing with issues related to

race, culture and religion.

With more than four decades in managing issues related to

social and ethnic diversity in Malaysia, the experience gained

and the creation of peaceful and harmonious Malaysian

society are now recognized as a successful model among the

international communities or Asian countries nearby.

The model for managing social and ethnic diversity is

presented according to the phases of development from 1970

to 2012, consisting of confidence-building (1970-2007),

strengthening community cohesion (1982-2004) and conflict

management (2005 onwards), as well as an outline of the

issues and challenges of conflict management.

National unity and social harmony are both societal

conditions and subjective perceptions which are not easily

Image: Dept of National Unity & National Integration, Malaysia

Malaysia’s mission of unity is not merely for the sake of harmony and good relations, but is critical to building a productive and competitive country

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