Preserve the Peace in Malaysia: The Role of Government and the Community

Abstract

Based on previous studies, the conflict still happened even after Malaysia achieved its independence on 1957 and the climax of ethnic conflict raised on 13th May 1969 between the Chinese and the Malay. The racial riot happened forced the Yang Dipertuan Agong (Supreme Leader) to announce the national emergency and the parliament also had been suspended. Later, Majlis Gerakan Negara (Mageran) or National Operations Council (NOC) was established as a caretaker to govern the country temporarily until 1971. Since the 13 May incident, the government strives to find potential and durable solution in order to prevent the conflict and maintain the peace in Malaysia. One of the main effort run by the government is to establish the agency so-called Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN) or the Department of National Unity and Integration (DNUI). The aim of this paper is to explore the role of government and community to preserve the peace in Malaysia. The study used the primary and secondary data. The primary data collected from the in depth interviews with several government authorities and community leaders. The secondary data collected from academic writings and government official reports. The findings show that DNUI has play a vital role to monitor the ethnics’ situation in Malaysia and organize some activities pertaining to the social cohesion matters. However, the initiatives taken by the DNUI cannot be achieved if there is no support from the community. Thus, to preserve the peace in Malaysia is not only about the top-down approach, but it is also need the bottom-up approach by the commitment of community organization to cooperate with the government agency like DNUI in order to have peace and harmony in Malaysia.