MALAYSIANS generally were stumped by the recent arson attacks on churches in the country, and dismayed at the unwanted publicity it created outside the country. After overcoming the initial shock at learning of the series of firebombings, many people expressed the fear that the attacks are spreading and getting out of control.

The swift condemnation of the attacks by politicians, and religious and community leaders, though right and necessary, kind of confirmed the public's fear instincts.

Thankfully, the authorities quickly got to grips with the situation.

If anything good at all that can come out of this episode, it must be a conscious effort to put to rest the mutual distrust festering in the country's inter-communal relationship that gave rise to such insecurity about public order.

Clearly, there should not have been any fear of communal violence breaking out after the crime. Alas, the fear on the ground was palpable from the tone of those who spoke about it.

And given the speed at which news and rumours can spread in this digital age, compared to four decades ago, who can say that the next spark would not ignite a massive tragedy for the nation?

The lingering distrust between the communities seems to run in the face of such initiatives as national service for youth and the practice of holding open houses during festivities aimed at fostering closer race relations.

But, could the persistence of the misgivings be merely a case of people being overly cautious due to a lack of sure signs of mutual commitment to peace and harmony among the communities beyond the assurances given by politicians?

After all, it's not that easy to find an outlet for whatever pent-up social frustrations in the country as public demonstrations are often frowned upon.

The public need to be assured by clear signs that their fear is baseless in order to build a lasting confidence in the country's societal unity, institutionalised fissures notwithstanding.

As it is, probably the only feasible way of assessing public mood on social issues across communal lines is via independent, credible and reliable opinion polls.

It is an indictment of the country's "openness", but at least the public can ground their security, or insecurity, of opinion on certain issues in concrete, published numbers.

These "soft numbers", besides portraying the wish of the majority, have the added benefit of being inclusive as a poll would treat the sample as one representing the country, regardless of the respondent's creed and ethnicity.

Unfortunately, the country has not gotten used to assessing public mood on social issues via opinion polls.

Instead, the public have been quietly putting up with political sloganeering and the state's "nanny" approach to managing public discipline, which no longer works, as people have been conditioned over the years to become cynical of politicians and state officials.

A classic example of the politicians' failure to gauge public mood was the 2008 general election, in which the Barisan National suffered a humiliating reversal at the ballot box for their insensitivity to public cries.

As if to make up for the "oversight", for a time immediately after the elections, televised political debates threatened to become a regular feature on the viewing menu. But soon it became clear that the challenge of pitting wits in public domain proved too much for politicians to handle.

As demonstrations and public debates cannot be relied upon to enlighten the public on social issues, let's facilitate their adoption of polling their opinions. Let the soft numbers generated by such polls speak for the public.

In the business community, the business confidence index is accepted as the reference against which a businessman places his level of confidence, knowing what the majority of fellow businessmen think.

Similarly, regular surveys and opinion polls can help the public track the changing mood of fellow citizens on certain social issues.

In fact, such poll findings can be used by the government in tandem with statistical data, the "hard numbers", in the formulation and fine-tuning of public policies, particularly in relation to sensitive areas such as education and employment.

The upshot of it is that the public need to know where they stand relative to their neighbours and the government on issues of common interest. As the initial reaction to arson attacks on the churches indicated, the fear arising from not knowing where one stands in the intricate communal fabric that's Malaysia can be unnerving indeed.