NEW CONVERSATION FOR BETTER SOCIETY

Edited by

Denison Jayasooria & Saifuddin Abdullah

 Global Movement of Moderates &

Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (PROHAM)

Introduction

There has been an escalation of insensitive racial and religious behaviour among Malaysians. This is very unlike Malaysians as we pride ourselves as One Malaysia and is inconsistent with our socio-economic history which is rich in diversity.

In this environment PROHAM and the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) hosted two roundtable (RTD) discussions to consider ways to foster greater appreciation and understanding in Malaysian society.

The first RTD was on Jan 20, 2014. In this RTD we honoured the passing of Nelson Mandela by reflecting on his leadership in building a non-racial South Africa with the key themes of forgiveness and reconciliation.

The second RTD was on Feb 05, 2014, during the UN Harmony Week (Feb 1-7, 2014). In this RTD we collected views on the state of harmony in our society and ways to foster greater harmony.

This booklet entitled ‘New Conversations for Better Society’ provides a comprehensive documentation of the thoughts shared by the panel speakers and participants.

Both GMM and PROHAM believe the nation must provide the democratic space for open and rational discussion. We believe sharing and learning from one another fosters harmony.

The press statements issued jointly by GMM and PROHAM provide a good summary of the five main concerns and ten recommendations which emerged from the Dialogue for Harmony. We acknowledge that we have many Malaysians with many good and practical suggestions on how to address our common concerns.

We take this opportunity to thank all speakers and participants for their inputs.  We extend a special word of thanks to Ms Susan Tham for taking notes during the meetings and writing the two RTD reports and to Mr Rama Ramanathan of the PROHAM Secretariat for editorial assistance

It is our prayer that we will continue to share our views and hold our leaders accountable for the common good of our nation. We hope that this publication will further motivate you to take concrete steps to prevent further decay and to light a clear path to peace and harmony in these dark times.

 Saifuddin Abdullah & Denison Jayasooria

Feb 8, 2014


 
Request for a soft copy from : prohamsecretariat@gmail.com