Aaron says no to hotline for insults against non-Muslim faiths

The national unity ministry would not set up a 24 hour hotline to cater to complaints on insults to faiths other than Islam as what the Islamic development department had done, said minister Aaron Anak Dagang.

Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau had called for a similar hotline to cater for non-Muslims.

Aaron said his ministry already had several mechanisms designed to deal with such cases, including the e-Sepakat system which helps monitor, detect and report on issues that could affect national unity.

Information in the system is analysed and reported every week, and shared with other authorities including the police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, he said.

The ministry also had a “unity analytics dashboard” which maps out high-risk and hotspot areas to support the management of community issues that could cause disharmony.

“At the same time, it improves the monitoring of the relationship between ethnicities, acting as an early warning system for any issue or conflict reported in the e-Sepakat system through predictive analysis,” he said in a statement.

Aaron said Putrajaya had also introduced community mediators, comprising Rukun Tetangga (neighbourhood watch) leaders, unity ministry officials and religious NGOs, to defuse social issues or conflicts at the community level.

He said there are currently 562 certified and trained community mediators who dispense their services for free.

“Taking into account these existing platforms to manage national unity, the ministry does not plan to set up a 24-hour hotline. I hope the people can make use of these platforms to preserve our harmony,” he said.