It's a taboo subject here in Malaysia, or at least that's what they say. I call it an epidemic, something that has been affecting many. And just like an epidemic, they try to hide it from the public so that they are not condemned, criticized or isolated.
Racism was something that was hotly debated among football fans world wide at the beginning of the year after Luis Suarez, a Liverpool player, threw racist accusations at Patrice Evra (Manchester United) and John Terry (Chelsea) at Anton Ferdinand (Queens Park Rangers). Due to their unruly behaviour, they had to pay a heavy price.
Suarez was banned for 8 matches and Terry was stripped of his England captaincy. The English Football Association had to scrap off the pre-kickoff handshake due to them when their teams met. And the worst part was that the fans of Liverpool and Chelsea actually tried to defend their players in the racism row.
If England is too far for an example, Malaysia itself will be a perfect place to start. One of the most astonishing things about racism in Malaysia is that people do it but pretend like it's so damn fine to do it. I've already come across many, many stories and here are a few of them.
One of my friends who was out of job went to a bookstore nearby to ask if there was a job vacancy. The person in charge there said that there was a job vacancy there but it was only preserved for one race. I used to hate that bookshop since last time because many employees there couldn't speak proper basic English. When my friend told me about that experience, the only thing that came to my mind was "what the f*** is wrong with people these days?"
Here's another interesting story. There was this market near my friend's house where some old lady sells some food stuff. One day, while we were sitting in the school canteen during a break, my friend advised us to never buy anything from that woman because she charged almost double the real price for people who bought things from her stall but was from a different race than her. My friend knew that because he spoke the language the woman spoke.
And the government have their own sense of racism. They call it protecting the rights of the original inhabitants in this country at the cost of public university places and job opportunities to thousands. Just look at America. They are miles ahead in front of us because everyone with an American passport gets equal rights and there's no quota for natives or Latinos or french with an American passport.
The roots of this epidemic , sadly, stems from our very homes. It might not be the case in every one's house but I'm sure it is in most. It happens in my home as well. I just hate it when sometimes, my parents criticize people because they are of a certain race.
I, for some reason, have never been influenced by what my parents have said about race and religion. I seriously don't know why but I have been quite neutral from race and religion. I'll be honest with you, I'm not a religiously strong person and I ain't planning to change that.
The reason is I believe in God and I respect other people. In my point of view, that's what religion really is about (no offence to you). Instead of looking at it in a negative way, I perceive it as something positive as my non-affinity to religion or race has made me breach so many different boundaries and made me to see the world in a different way.
Your parents might have forbade you from mixing with other races. A a skeptic of my blog post, you could say that your parents might have behaved in that way because they might have been worried about us being with the wrong group.
They might say bad things about others and try to make themselves right. Influence is indeed a worrying factor and your parents might be right in that sense. But, one thing that always, trust me, always, skips our mind is that we, as people, can make choices.
And the choices we make today is something that will shape our future. There's no point blaming a race because of what some people in that particular race did. In a family of thieves, there might be a young son of a thief lord who doesn't steal but he is judged based on his family.
Do not think that you should do good so that your family has a good name. Think about changing your attitude on viewing a certain person based on who he isn't but what his surrounding is. It really does a lot of injustice when you discriminate innocent people because of what people around them have done.
Stop for a moment and ask yourself, "If a person does not choose the race he is to be born into, is it right for you judge him on his race or ethnicity?" Maybe, it's time for us to start respecting each other as a human beings first......
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