The culture of condemning and accusing others, especially the country leadership, through the newspapers and social media websites, should be stopped, Information Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim said today.

He said such a culture not only created disintegration in the society, but also hampered the country's development.

"Flip the pages of today's newspapers and we can see stories of people condemning and accusing one another. The question, is this healthy for the country?

"If we are to look at foreign newspapers, like from Singapore, China, and even Australia, this accusation is not an issue. Instead, their newspapers are filled with news on how to develop their countries," he said when opening the Jelebu Umno divisional delegates meeting.

Majority are Malay-Muslims

He said the social websites, especially Facebook and Twitter, had also become popular channels for individuals to hurl insults and accusations at others.

He said the Malaysian society, majority of whom were Malays and Muslims, should not engage in such a culture and to waste their time surfing the social websites.

Rais, who is Jelebu MP, said Umno leaders at the branch level should be more active and to diversify their activities, especially to be closer to the grassroots.

He said those who had not been active should change and play a more active role as they were the key to Umno and BN’s victory in the coming general election.

"We have many Umno branches, but are less active and only the divisional level is active. If all of us can be more active, we can certainly succeed," he added.

- Bernama