Sunday, October 01, 2006

Another Blog on Racism

Oh my god.. i just read Kenny's Blog.. ok.. sorry if i can't stop talking about him.. but i think i'm offically an addict of Kenny Sia's blog.. i fit all the requirements in here.. =(

Anyway... as I was saying... i was browsing through Kenny's blog this morning and i happen to read the small talk thingy... haha... talk about small talk... the words are so very tiny that I barely notice them. Anyway... I notice them today and it went something like this...


'I have only been away from my blog a few days and what do I get? Bunch of ugly racist commenters on a completely irrelevant entry about the beautiful scenery of New Zealand.'

I was wondering what made Kenny put a comment like this... so I proceed to look at the previous post and started reading the comments... and lo and behold.. Some less of a human person put on an article commenting on our current state of affairs in Malaysia, stating how some race are treated better than other races. And with this started a string of comments. So poor Kenny's blog became a forum to discuss on racism in Malaysia.

Now... what do I think of racism in Malaysia. I was about to put my 10 cents worth in Kenny's blog but what the hell... who's gonna care what I think? So I just better write a nice long blog for me, myself and my imaginary readers to enjoy.

I came from a Chinese high school where 90%, no make that 98% of the students there are Chinese. The whole school probably had only like 2 Malays and a few more Indians. This resulted in me not really needing to deal and mix with other race other than Chinese. Come to think of it, I’m not really sure whether this is a good or bad thing. No preparatory prayers before assembly. No assalamualaikum as a greeting but plainly good ol

Selamat pagi semua. (Good morning everyone.)

But when I went into my current local university. Boy... was I in for a surprised. There was only around 20% Chinese in the whole university and everywhere you go... you are definitely the minority. Suddenly I had to get used to the saying of prayers before any official function. The long greeting... the loud praying session that comes on when you least expect it and the constant Malay food everywhere...

but somehow... even after all this experience and culture shock, I came to realize that this is not a bad thing after all. I have been living in Malaysia all my life but I’m sad to say I did not truly lived the Malaysian way of living.


Got this from the internet. This picture was drawn by some 6 year old kid from Ipoh. See.. kids accept everyone! Shame on you guys.. and sometimes me too.. =(

We're a diverse nation. Everywhere you go... there are always different races around. And contrary to popular believes, Malaysia is definitely developing into a loving multi cultural country. Just the other day I was sharing a taxi with a Malay girl to the KTM to save money, and our driver was an Indian. So just in the taxi alone, there were 3 different races! And the funny thing was, the Indian driver could not stop talking and joking with us. It was quite funny actually with him entertaining us along the way. He even sang a few Indian songs when things got abit too quiet.

The thing is we should celebrate differences. Imagine a world where all of us are born the same colour... same hairstyle, same clothing, and most terrible... same food! urgh! Bleurgh! Imagine that!

I love Malaysia's food... I absolutely love Nasi Briyani, Nasi Lemak.. And my favourite Maggi Mee Goreng! Not to mention occasionally Char Kuew Tiao and curry mee la... cannot be too bias wan... =)

Unfortunately, not truly understanding other's culture will definitely lead to misunderstanding and ultimately a repeat of May 13, 1969! How many of us have best friends which are not the same race as us? I for one have many questions on the lifestyle of other race in Malaysia. They intrigued me and I’m sure we intrigue them too...

And I take my hats of them for puasa-ing the whole day. I don't think I can ever do that... I’m too greedy for my own good! What I like best about this time of the year is the never ending super long food stalls that are open everyday starting from 4 in the afternoon. How I love that... hehe...

I admit though that there’s unfairness in our country. Corruption, greed, non-transparency in our government system. But hey.. this is our country, our homeland. Love it for what it is. Till the day when it will finally change, we have to learn to live harmoniously with each other. Not only tolerating each other’s differences but also respecting and celebrating it.

So Selamat Hari Raya Puasa for those Muslims out there.

Try to keep some food for me to k? =)

P/S: Sorry if I offended anyone in my process of blogging!

4 comments:

Irene said...

I spent one Christmas with my entire family in Malaysia. We stayed at the Legenda Hotel in KL where my Uncle was General Manager. We had a great time! You have a very clean, green, lovely country! And I have to agree...the food there's yummy! c",)

phaedrus said...

hey girl, ramadan kareem to you too! thanks for this nice blog entry...and now i'm hungry for malaysian food. mmmmcurry... (2.5 hours to go until this fast is over!!)

Cherry Popcorn said...

Thank you thank you.. =)

zewt said...

yeah, malaysia is a diverse country... but i have to admit, there is a racism somewhere out there. perhaps you may not see it yet but there is.

we may not need to be part of it... but we certainly need to be aware of it.