This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 29, 2025 - January 4, 2026
The end of the year is traditionally a time when companies and governmental institutions audit their performance, financial health and strategic direction. What we rarely do, however, is take stock of our social, political and moral progress and reflect on our collective choices. This article aims to do just that, through the lens of philosophy.
Looking at Malaysia’s ledger for 2025, on the credit side, the year has recorded several notable humanitarian gains, including the mediation of an unconditional ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, Malaysians volunteering for the Global Sumud Flotilla, the continual humanitarian aid to Gaza and the relief deployment to Myanmar after the major earthquake. Together, these humanitarian efforts echo what philosopher Peter Singer notes in his book, One World – The Ethics of Globalization, on ethical cosmopolitanism, emphasising the long-term utility of helping those beyond our immediate kin or tribe. The fact that Malaysians actively demonstrated this widening moral horizon despite ongoing sociopolitical challenges at home is a testament to our evolving commitment to cosmopolitan citizenship.
However, on the debit side, the year has been marked by rising intolerance, geopolitical polycrises, political instability and healthcare crises, among other challenges. Locally, intolerance remains a persistent threat to social cohesion. Racism is pronounced and the rising hate speech trend has caused the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, to issue a royal reminder advising netizens to “think deeply before you post something or want to say something”. Beyond the online sphere, casual racism is normalised through everyday encounters, whether through racial slurs by roadside sellers or politicians inciting public unrest.
As we progress into 2026, the imperative is to ensure that our altruism and moral expansiveness for distanced strangers finds expression at home. In a multicultural society where agreeing with everyone is impossible, toleration and mutual respect through understanding are essential. As philosopher Immanuel Kant emphasises, every human being deserves recognition of equal dignity. Hate speech dehumanises and harms others by reducing individuals to objects of contempt. While hate speech and intolerance should be curbed, the greater challenge is balancing this with the safeguarding of the fundamental right to free speech. According to philosopher John Stuart Mill, limitation of free speech can only be justified if it causes harm to someone. As such, the focus for our lawmakers in 2026 should be on cultivating toleration, empathy and mutual respect through inclusive community-based initiatives while the expansion of legal instruments should be done only when necessary to prevent erosion of human rights.
Another ledger entry that underscores the fragility of human cooperation is the persistence of armed hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand just a few months after the unconditional ceasefire brokered by Malaysia in its capacity as the Asean chair. In what British-Pakistani scholar Ziauddin Sardar calls “postnormal times”, a period defined by high levels of uncertainty, chaos and contradictions, diplomatic interventions are increasingly fragile, prone to collapse under the strain of unresolved grievances, high distrust and misinformation. In such an environment, global leaders must ask themselves not only how to broker agreements but also how to cultivate the conditions that allow those agreements to endure and resist the pull of tribalism. Crisis-oriented governance, informed by a precautionary approach in the philosophy of policymaking, can potentially provide stronger safeguards and accountability mechanisms to help prevent violations.
Malaysia’s 2025 ledger also reveals political instability locally as we witness the Turun Anwar rally around the middle of the year. On the surface, it may seem that the rally was driven by frustrations over the Madani government. However, deeper analysis reveals broader uncertainty on civic engagement, as shown in confusion among participants on the purpose of the rally and the future of the government, and viral memes highlighting contradictory slogans. Others argued that the rally was not a genuinely democratic movement led by the people but those in positions of power attempting to mobilise public discontent for their own agendas.
As we look toward 2026, a pressing question emerges: What does a healthy, legitimate democracy truly look like in Malaysia and how can we move closer to it? According to the philosopher Jürgen Habermas in his book Between Facts and Norms, healthy democracy should be grounded in rational public reasoning, mutual understanding, informed citizens and discourse. To progress as a democratic nation, Malaysia must move beyond performative agendas, partisan interests and identity-driven narratives, cultivating informed civic participation alongside ethical and accountable leadership to prevent democracy from descending into populism and tribalism.
In the healthcare entry, longstanding challenges remain unresolved. Chronic underfunding, a severe shortage of healthcare staff and brain drain continue to strain the system. This is compounded by skyrocketing healthcare costs and insurance premiums, further widening the gap between public and private care, leaving the marginalised disproportionately exposed to delayed treatment, overcrowded facilities and poor health outcomes. In the famous economic-philosophy concept, the “Tragedy of the Commons”, profiteering herdsmen each add more cows to graze on a shared pasture (the “commons”), eventually destroying it through overuse. Malaysian public healthcare can be seen as such a commons. Practically “free” services, coupled with rising private healthcare costs, push more Malaysians to rely on public care. Many who could afford private treatment instead opt for public healthcare, either because they are “priced out” or because it costs “only RM1-RM5”. Furthermore, it is projected that our population will become an aged population in less than 25 years. This can create a domino effect toward overuse and potential collapse of the public healthcare system.
All these prompt a critical question: Can Malaysia’s universal healthcare system still maximise utility for all when the quality of care is compromised by structural and systemic challenges? It is high time policy decisions must consider not just equal access but equitable allocation. It is imperative the Madani government follows through on its earlier promise to develop a targeted subsidised healthcare system, such as the Rakan KKM initiative, or adopt mechanisms similar to the successful Budi95 model.
In the education entry, one pressing concern in 2025 has been the rising trend of violence and bullying in Malaysian schools. From the tragic death of Zara Qairina Mahathir as a result of alleged bullying in Sabah to gang rape cases in Kedah and Malacca as well as the death of Yap Shing Xuen from stabbing in Bandar Utama, these incidents point to a worrying failure in our education system to create a safe and conducive space for learning. A deeper underlying issue is the persistence of what the Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire terms a “banking” model of education that still underpins our education system, where critical discussions on taboo topics such as misogyny, consent, mental health and power relations are avoided. In this model, students are positioned as passive recipients of information and there is little room to cultivate empathy, critical thinking or moral reasoning.
With students’ safety at stake, we must urgently reflect on the fundamental purpose of education. What should education aim to achieve? Should it merely maintain the status quo or should it nurture social change, civic responsibility and democratic citizenship? Initiatives proposed by the Ministry of Education such as introducing the subject Pendidikan Karakter (Character Education) represent a step forward but they remain insufficient when entrenched social norms that perpetuate systemic violence, discrimination and indifference are left untouched. Schools should serve as environments where students critically examine harmful norms and develop democratic values through open dialogue and experiential learning that connects ethical principles to real-life situations.
2025 is not a perfect year but it has made clear, perhaps more starkly than before, the beauty of what makes us uniquely human — our moral expansiveness and capacity for cosmopolitan citizenship — while reminding us of the costs of intolerance and complacency. Imperfect as it is, 2025 can still be remembered as a year in which we start laying the groundwork for a more critical, resilient and genuinely harmonious future.
Chew Zhun Yee and Dr Tee Chen Giap are co-founders of the Malaysian Philosophy Society
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