National legislations needed to be strengthened further, says DPM Fadillah

KUCHING, July 11 2026: National legislations, especially on security, need to be further strengthened to address the threat of radical and extremist ideologies, but efforts to shape the character of society based on noble values ​​must remain a priority.


Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said although the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) is in place, the act is not as strong as the Internal Security Act (ISA) in curbing security threats including issues involving religion, race and the royal institution (3R).

"That has already been made a policy decision but that is why we have to strengthen our country's legislation.

"We know that SOSMA is already there, but SOSMA is not as strong as the ISA when it comes to curbing the 3Rs, it is really difficult," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after the closing a seminar on the Sustainability of Islam Nusantara Sarawak Maju Makmur 2026M/1448H at the Hikmah Exchange Event Centre (HEEC) today.

However, Fadillah said that any effort to strengthen legislation must take into account the balance between national security and community harmony, in addition to meeting international standards.

According to him, legislation is only the last step in dealing with security threats, while efforts to form character and noble values ​​among the community must be given priority.

Elaborating further, he stressed that character formation is more important than focusing on legislation because it is the most effective approach to curbing the spread of radical and extremist beliefs among the community.

"What is more important is to form human values ​​themselves because character formation is more important to me than us focusing on legislation.

"Because in the end, if every individual can be born with a good personality, then we can put aside the radical and extreme nature, so in the end everyone will always love each other," he explained.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ayub Khan Mydin Pichey, President of the Sarawak Islamic Council  Misnu Taha, Sabah Mufti Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar and Senior Director of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department Dr Yamin Ismail were also present.