COMMENT | Of Halimah and national unity

COMMENT | The National Unity Ministry was established in 1973. I remember fondly its first minister, Napsiah Omar.

Napsiah was, in my view, one of the more remarkable ministers in the cabinet at that time. She was dedicated and down to earth in dealing with issues of the day. She was able to garner women support and participation in the development of the nation.

The current minister, Halimah Mohamed Sadique, is a political star from Johor, and she is preparing a four-year plan for national unity, which she hopes will bear fruits in 2025.

We are not told how much money will be budgeted for her to revisit and promote, among others, the principles of Rukun Negara, the establishment of kindergarten classes, and other activities to make Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ a success.

I do not want to pour cold water over her plan to bring unity to the country. We have, after all, tried it for over 50 years.

But I can’t help writing this piece, as unity comes from the heart, not what programmes we devised to promote it.

It is a daunting and almost impossible task because unity...