Issues and Challenges for Conflict Resolution In Malaysia

Forty four years after independence, Malaysia still faces numerous concerns that threaten her peace. The Southeast Asian Conflict Studies Network (SEACSN) aimed to address these concerns by bringing to-gather academics, policy makers, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other concerned individuals in the workshop “Issues and Challengers for Conflict Resolution in Malaysia”. This was held with the weeks of the terrorist attack on the World Trade centre in New York City, U.S.A. providing an increased sense of urgency and relevance to address the issues of concern.

The issues addressed were:

1. Examination of the concern facing Malaysia today

a.         Internal political issues e.g. the criminal justice system, Islamic militancy.

b.         Internal potential ethnic conflict e.g. Race relations

c.          External political issues

i.          At a regional level e.g. maritime security issues, territorial conflict management and Malaysia’s relationship with Singapore

ii.         At an international level e.g. with global superpowers

2. Examination of how these concerns are being addressed, the mechanism and approaches being used, through the use of the following case studies:

a.         The Kampong Medan Incident of 2001

b.         The Taiping Peace Initiative

c.          The Mediation and Reconciliation Services (MARS) at USM

3. Examination of the future. What approaches should Malaysia be seeking to use and implement to prevent challenges to use of various disciplines and various approaches, but with a common goal.

The main conclusion of the workshop was that organizations should seek to work together to promote peace within Malaysia. This, as illustrated by the workshop, will be achieved by the use of various disciplines and various approaches, but with a common goal.