Yesterday, someone I know wrote an entry in her blog which somehow ended up containing a few racist comments against Indians [accidental(?)]. Naturally, all the Indians got angry and called her a racist. But then, it became clear in the next 2-3 hours (she removed the entry after that) that it was not just the Indians who were not happy, even the Chinese and Malays felt the same. I know this may sound sick, but then the whole incident gave me a sense of pleasure.
Let me explain - there have been many times in my life that this issue has been raised by many - mainly by my school teachers and a certain politician.
-This minister from Malaysia came to Russia for an 'official' visit, and in his speech, mentioned that my friends (Chinese and Indians) and I do not get along well with the Malays just because we, non-Malays were sitting in one group.
-In school, there was a rule that a Chinese cannot sit together with a Chinese (there were almost no Indians in my school)- they have to sit next to a Malay. The argument is, if you don't sit with a Malay, you won't be friends with them.
-Remember the Petronas advertisement where the 2 old guys will meet up in a hospital after a very long time and then say that the current generation are not as racially integrated as they were during their time?
Well, guess what? You are all wrong! At the very least, I can speak about me and my friends here. My roommate is an Indian, yes. My blockmates are Chinese. I get along very well with many of the Chinese and Malays here. I am closer to some of the Chinese more than some of the Indians. I don't see why the race should even be an issue when you make friends with someone. I can have a discussion with any of my friends about any racially related issue and not be afraid of offending them because we are all open enough to have such conversations. Around here, racist jokes are a norm, they just don't matter that much - they're just jokes!!
I do know, however, that racial problems in Malaysia does exist. In Malaysian universities, you see Malays, Chinese and Indians sticking to friends of the same race. Some of my brother's friends are not happy with him because he is quite close to the Chinese. I don't know what went wrong where. The government has been trying for SO long to achieve racial harmony and they have failed miserably. But not here, not in Russia, at least not in MMA - here, we have racial harmony. And for all the harm the article yesterday did, I guess one good thing came out of it- it helped me realized just how wonderful all my friends are.
Let me explain - there have been many times in my life that this issue has been raised by many - mainly by my school teachers and a certain politician.
-This minister from Malaysia came to Russia for an 'official' visit, and in his speech, mentioned that my friends (Chinese and Indians) and I do not get along well with the Malays just because we, non-Malays were sitting in one group.
-In school, there was a rule that a Chinese cannot sit together with a Chinese (there were almost no Indians in my school)- they have to sit next to a Malay. The argument is, if you don't sit with a Malay, you won't be friends with them.
-Remember the Petronas advertisement where the 2 old guys will meet up in a hospital after a very long time and then say that the current generation are not as racially integrated as they were during their time?
Well, guess what? You are all wrong! At the very least, I can speak about me and my friends here. My roommate is an Indian, yes. My blockmates are Chinese. I get along very well with many of the Chinese and Malays here. I am closer to some of the Chinese more than some of the Indians. I don't see why the race should even be an issue when you make friends with someone. I can have a discussion with any of my friends about any racially related issue and not be afraid of offending them because we are all open enough to have such conversations. Around here, racist jokes are a norm, they just don't matter that much - they're just jokes!!
I do know, however, that racial problems in Malaysia does exist. In Malaysian universities, you see Malays, Chinese and Indians sticking to friends of the same race. Some of my brother's friends are not happy with him because he is quite close to the Chinese. I don't know what went wrong where. The government has been trying for SO long to achieve racial harmony and they have failed miserably. But not here, not in Russia, at least not in MMA - here, we have racial harmony. And for all the harm the article yesterday did, I guess one good thing came out of it- it helped me realized just how wonderful all my friends are.
4 comments:
Nice read :)Say no to racism. It is indeed an act of disgrace in the eyes of God and His creation. Love thy neighbours. Spread peace..ohmmmmm...
yes,i loooooooove my frens here(regardless of race,that is)!IN MY OPINION,god has given me the best of frens n in that sense,im so thankful that i came to russia->moscow->mma->class of'08 coz I THINK no wer else wud i have found this much of racial harmony..love u guys!!
hi sharini.
i just found ur blog. a well done post! im 200% agree with u. we here are so much like a big family. im so close with my chinese n indian friends too. in fact, i can say that my best friend here is a chinese n my buddy in cooking is an indian. the situation in malaysia is totally weird. maybe we should try to throw them out of the country, let say send them away to an island to be with other races (not their clan), and only then they can understand the meaning of living in harmony, respecting people and to see the differences as advantages for us all.
ehem.. last week, i just went fishing. n the trip consisted of indians, malays n chineses. i found it was so great. n im pretty sure the russians have been wondering how could the 3 races with different skin colours live together in harmony :)
p/s: all the best n happy graduating soon :)
Thanks Sarah..hope your years here will be filled with many happy memories with your friends..i know i had (and am having) lots of fun!
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