Content area
Full Text
ABSTRACT
After the independence on 31st August 1957, Malaysia had been shocked by a race riots incident that happened on 13 May 1969. This incident had threatened our unity and harmony of races in Malaysia. It was happened because of the crisis between Malaysian and Chinese after the general election on 1969. Racist issues and sentimental games had been played that caused misunderstanding and dissatisfaction between them and subsequent loss of innocent life and destroyed their properties. It was the worst crisis in our history until that time. For several areas, curfew had been imposed to control the situation from becoming worse. The government through Ministry of Information had taken fast action by drafting many public relations strategies to overcome this crisis. Government established Majlis Gerakan Rakyat (MAGERAN) to restore the unity and harmony of races in our country. Besides, Rukun Negara had been introduced to achieve unity regardless background of any races through principles in Rukun Negara that had been held by Malaysian. On 30 August 1972, Barisan Nasional (BN) had been established and registered as the political party. This establishment has been successful to overcome the misunderstanding between races and create harmony between them. One policy had been introduced which is Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB) to replace the previous policy "Dasar Pecah dan Perintah" that had been practised during the colonial phase. This policy helped Bumiputeras to develop their economy by involving them in sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing and trade. This helped them to increase their income and exterminate poverty. It is clear that the effective public relations strategies helped a country in crisis management and finally, a developed and in harmony country could be formed.
JEL Classifications: H10; H12.
Keywords: Crisis; Independence; Public Relations; Strategies; Policy.
1. INTRODUCTION
Race riots incident on 13 May 1939 had been recorded as one black spot which cannot be erased from Malaysian history after the independence day. Since 446 years ago, Malaysians cooperated with each other to demand freedom from colonist. Now after our country became free from the colonist, the image of Malaysia as a multiethnicity country had been admired at international arena. Until today, this 13 May 1939 incident was considered as the most sensitive issue to be discussed in public....