Let's talk about race

Once upon a time, in a faraway land in Xiamen (厦门), there lived a great man called Sim (沈). Like many others during his time, Sim traveled to a little island known as Temasek, in search of a better life for him and his family.

It was in Temasek that my grandfather was born. He subsequently married a 1st-generation Singaporean woman known as Pek (白) whose forefathers, too hailed from Xiamen. Pek's family, comprising her parents and siblings subsequently moved to Trengganu because of some family business.

But Pek, my grandmother stayed put with my grandfather in Singapore. And so it was in Singapore, that my grandparents' family tree slowly grew and expanded, while at the other end of the region in Trengganu was the family of my grandmother's. The former became Singapore citizens. And the latter, Malaysians.

Which one of us is better off?

I can't help but shudder at what's happening in Malaysia. During the recent UMNO General Assembly, many political leaders reportedly took to the rostrum rhetoric that touched on race and religion that left many people feeling extremely uneasy. Much of these have to do with protecting the rights and privileges of the Malays and respecting Islam as the country's official religion. Indeed, for the 1st time in decades, there was talk about "Malay Surpremacy". Some of the rhetoric made by UMNO leaders includes:

• "Umno is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood to defend the race and religion. Don't play with fire. If they messed with our rights, we will mess with theirs."
  
  
• "The non-Malays should be grateful that their forefathers were given Malaysian citizenship. If they question our rights, then we should question theirs...."
  
  
• "The non-Malays have no right to question the five fundamental matters linked to the Malays - the King, religion, culture, language and the country. No one should question these and we have set this out in our Constitution."
  
  
• "The right of the Malays in the public sector and in getting permits must be maintained to fulfil the "social contract" between the communities."
  
  
• Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz told delegates that Malaysia would not ink trade pacts with any country if it involved sacrificing the interest of the majority Malays.
  

Victor would no doubt warn that I'm treading on dangerous ground. And Chun See might say I'm over-generalising things. But come, let's be open about it. The issue of race is like a Gordian Knot. It will always be there, and would never go away. But surely, radical statements like those above really have no place in our society. Instead of building bridges among the races, they hit at the very core of our social fabrics. They are really more harm than doing harmony.

One of my distant cousins in Malaysia once quipped, "Why did our forefathers decide to uproot to Malaysia? Why couldn't they have stopped and stayed put in Singapore?" This sure speaks volume on the kind of sentiments my cousin felt in being Malaysian. Sure, they live in big houses and almost all my cousins possess a car each, and best still, there's no such thing as COE, and they could drive the car for life. But what quality of life if you're forever being treated as 2nd class citizens in your country? Or that being the top student does not necessary translate into securing a place in the local university?

A "democratic" country based on equality? You decide.

Category: Musings