Malaysians must take responsibility for unity, not let politicians exploit division, says Neow

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysians must take greater responsibility for strengthening unity, as failure to do so could allow politicians to exploit divisions in society to protect their position.

Former diplomat Neow Choo Seong said such divisions would eventually come at the expense of the younger generation, stressing that building a better Malaysia for them was a shared responsibility.

"So that understanding, that awareness should come from us because, or else, the politicians will use that as a tool to further divide us, to further divide the society so that they can stay up in power and at the end of the day, the younger generation will suffer," he said.

Speaking during a brief panel discussion titled "Leaders' Role in Bridging Malaysia's Racial Divide" at the New Muslims Community Conference 2026, he said the country should look beyond elections and short-term political considerations and instead focus on the next 30 years as Malaysia moves towards its centennial.

Neow, who is also Barisan Nasional Youth communications director said Malaysians would struggle to find common ground if national discussions continued to focus mainly on issues that divide society.

"What we should be doing and asking is how to unite the nation in order to find a solution," he said during the conference themed "Bridging Two Worlds, Healing One Nation," held here, today.

He warned that spending too much time focusing on divisive elements would leave Malaysians with less opportunity to consider how to build a country for everyone.

"If today we spend most of our time thinking about divisive elements, then trust me, we won't have time to think about how to build this nation for all Anak Malaysia... and that is really my major concern," he said.

Neow said the younger generation could offer an important perspective on how Malaysians approach differences, saying they generally did not view social and cultural differences as the main issue when it came to unity.

He added that young people were less concerned about what race or religion someone was.

"What they care about is humanity," said the MCA Youth Information chief.

Neow said this sense of humanity should be used to bring people together instead of focusing on religious or racial identities.

He questioned the continued emphasis on identifying people according to their religion or ethnicity, saying such an approach no longer made sense to him.

He said although calls for unity were common, the more important question was whether Malaysians actually practised unity and celebrated their differences.

"We all have the responsibility. Call for unity is very simple. It's just like everyone wants unity.

"But how much do we practise it? How much do we celebrate differences, diversity?" he said.

He added that unity also required Malaysians to hold firmly to their principles and values, particularly the principle of "unity in diversity."

He said building understanding required people to engage directly with communities.

"Instead of talking about them, just talk to them," he said.

He also expressed hope that the spirit of engagement could be further strengthened and empowered so Malaysians could move towards a society without fear and prejudice and live in peace and harmony.