‘You should translate that to Malay’ and the urban high horse

More often than not, they are just regular people who are trying to make the best decisions they think they can make with the information they have, in the contexts and social structure they have. You cannot expect them to have a Klang Valley liberal bubble mentality, when they don’t have a Klang Valley liberal bubble life.

Nicholas Cheng, The Star

FOR my second column, I’d thought I’d try to do three things.

1) Address a request from readers from the last column; 2) Introduce myself properly to everyone; and 3) Attempt to connect the two and explain why changing a column into Bahasa Malaysia (BM) isn’t helpful.

Let’s start with the first thing. The request “You should translate that to Malay” comes up often at The Star. It’s in every R.AGE video and it came up again last week when I talked about Malaysian media literacy.

“There are plenty of people who should read/ see this,” someone would say, justifying the request.

Second. Maybe it’s the racist in me. But whenever I read “There are plenty of people who should read/ see this,” all I hear is “The ignorant people who are the real problems … are the ones who only know how to speak Malay.”

I’ll revisit this later.

Thing No 2

Hi. I’m Nick. I’m 28. I’ve been a journalist since I started with The Star’s BRATs (Bright, Roving, Annoying Teenagers) programme when I was 15. I went to a well-funded “Sekolah Bestari” and was lucky enough to go to private universities.

I spend my middle-income salary on stuff in shopping malls and gentrified shoplots within a 25km radius of the Klang Valley. I was raised consuming Western media, making me more in tune with Western ideas than Asian ones.

I like musical theatre, the Foo Fighters and getting “Likes” on Facebook for publicising views that make me look smart and noble.

For example: “Climate change bad. Steel straw good.” Applaud my nobility.

I am the stereotypical product of what I like to call the “Klang Valley liberal bubble”, a sheltered species that grew up in a comfortable tax bracket, were educated in third-tier private universities that still look good in comparison to local ones, and have most of our social and cultural experiences in concrete shopping malls.

I grew up in this bubble until I finished my university and continue to live in it because it is rent-free. Also, my mom cooks better than me.

It wasn’t until I started working in media did I realise just how little I knew of my own country, outside this bubble. Working as a journalist meant going out of the bubble and meeting people everywhere. And most of my stories involved people who never had the luxuries I did and because of that, have views different from mine.

I’m talking about men who have three wives, women who think their daughters should cover up everything and aspire to only be good spouses, parents who put underage children into arranged marriages, and yes, people who believe Syariah law should be implemented everywhere.

When I first started working, I found it hard to engage with them. How can I respect you as someone who thinks <insert controversial topic here>?

But as part of my job, I was forced to meet them, speak to them, and get to know them. I used to have an image of “them” as ignorant puritans. But the more people I met, the less I thought that.

I’m going to generalise, but I hope I get my point across. More often than not, they are just regular people who are trying to make the best decisions they think they can make with the information they have, in the contexts and social structure they have.

You cannot expect them to have a Klang Valley liberal bubble mentality, when they don’t have a Klang Valley liberal bubble life.

I don’t agree with their views. But I understand why they have them. And I do want them to see my point of view.

I have found that having conversations with them, and making each other understand where the other is coming from, helps both parties expand their worldview and see things differently.

And more often than not, I find those “ignorant people” actually try very hard to listen.

Thing No 3

Back to “You should translate that to Malay”. That phrase bothers me now. Its intention is to change the mentality of those unaware of whatever issue, with information that is in English – a medium that is hard to access for some Malaysians.

But in application, it comes off as a high horse for lazy urbanites to sit on while judging those they think are ignorant. It comes off as: “I’m not the problem. They are the problem. They need to think how I think”.

Perhaps, but the connotation it brings only isolates rather than connects. I’ve never seen someone change mentality after being told by someone more privileged, that their way of life and thinking are wrong, and they are bad people for not having the same mentality, and that they should get on their level.

“You should translate that to Malay” is, to me, the equivalent of doing all of the above, with arms folded and noses up.

A 2017 Institute of South-East Asian Studies study suggests Malaysians tend to stick to their own race and class when it comes to forming personal relationships. That isn’t surprising, it happens in every country.

But it does create a tricky class divide that has resulted in Trump for the United States and Brexit for the United Kingdom. And they all speak the same language!

The reason those things happened? Because the urban classes were so caught up in being in the right, they forgot to engage with their rural, “ignorant” counterparts on why they are misinformed, in a less condescending way.

From astride their high horses they spouted their own versions of “You should translate that to Malay”, celebrated their enlightenment together, then collectively scratched their heads when the silent majority outside the bubble didn’t listen.

Being right is easy. Living in someone’s shoes and engaging with others is harder – but better. Don’t be the ignorant people you claim to not be.

Applaud my nobility.