Let’s race to be colour blind

One of the lessons that can be learnt from the general election last year is that the young don’t see each other in racial terms.

BY WONG SAI WAN, The Star

A GOLFING buddy sought me out last weekend to express his disappointment on how everything in the country is based on ethnic lines.

“We are now in the 21st century, and our country is more than 50 years old, but yet everything we do in Malaysia is still looked at in racial terms,” said Bob, a 40-something executive.

His complaint came about following the demonstration by those against the teaching of Maths and Science in English in Kuala Lumpur, which ended with the police dispersing the crowd with tear gas.

After a short discussion about the incident, which Malay nationalists as well as opposition politicians took part in, we agreed that the various communities in the country are still insecure about their own identities.

Bob went one step further and blamed the system adopted all those years ago as one of the major factors for the insecurities.

We concluded that while we are all so proud of the fact that we are a multi-racial country there is very little done to promote our similarities.

“From young, we are taught about our differences. We should instead be taught about how similar we are,” Bob said.

“I never realised I was a Malay until I went to school. Teachers emphasised to everyone of us that we are from different ethnic groups. Imagine – the indoctrination starts from so young.”

He also pointed out that in other countries which also have a multi-racial composition, laws had been enacted to prevent anyone from emphasising racial differences.

Instead, here we have laws – especially the Federal Constitution – which enshrine or emphasise the differences.

In countries like Australia, South Africa and Britain, mentioning a racial difference is an offence under their respective equal opportunity laws.

Interestingly, these three countries had one of the harshest racist systems in the past. In Australia and South Africa, apartheid policies were a way of life, with people segregated according to the colour of their skin.

These policies were still practised as recently as the 1980s in South Africa.

Today, some Malaysians look upon these two countries as among the most liberal in the world. Many Malaysians critical of the present politics in our country now reside in Australia.

In these countries, it is mandatory for the people to promote their similarities.

“Instead of promoting cohesiveness, we in Malaysia promote divisiveness,” Bob said.

I could not agree more, and if the 12th general election a year ago is any indication, many young people also agree.

In this globalised, Internet world, the young see the world differently from the pre-Merdeka generation as they do not have such complexes like racial differences hanging on their necks. In fact, the young have a problem with the emphasis on racial differences.

Of course, not all among the younger generation share this view and some are in fact just as obsessed about ethnic diversity as their parents.

Much lip service has been given to the concept of Bangsa Malaysia and how we are moving closer towards that goal where Malaysians will no longer refer to themselves as Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazandusun.

However, my worry is that this is not happening fast enough and this is because everything from compulsory documents to the education system requires a Malaysian to indicate his ethnicity.

Our leaders are chosen based on their ethnicity; their political parties (regardless whether they claim to be multi-racial or not) are race-based. It is true whichever side of the House they are from.

Our fractured education system is designed on the needs and expectations of the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely accepted by everyone that polarisation is worse in schools and public universities.

Yet nothing effective is done to overcome this racial or ethnicity divide. Why?

When I applied for a job in The Star 25 years ago, under the “race” column I filled in the word “human”. Similarly, when applying for my passport, under the “bangsa” column, I wrote “Malaysia”. Sadly, in my passport, my “bangsa” is stated as “Cina”.

Requiring one to state his ethnicity would not be allowed in Australia or South Africa.

I am not advocating that we copy the laws of these countries but that we come up with laws to ensure that being Malaysian is more important than where our forefathers come from. Why not?

As far as race is concerned, Deputy Executive Editor Wong Sai Wan, who is visually short-sighted and long-sighted, is happily colour blind.