mamakk!!!

Jeffrey wrote:

On this particular day though, the conversation somehow shifted to the subject of “Malay rights”. Again, I can’t remember what brought that up or what conclusion we all came to, but I do remember someone saying something like, “Of course the Chinese and Indians aren’t happy about our rights and I don’t blame them. But I’ll fight to keep our rights.”

Let me first say that none of my cousins are racist bastards. They’re smart, streetwise, hardworking, good people with not a xenophobic bone in their body. Furthermore, this conversation took place many years ago, and minds can (hopefully) change as people become wiser. We’re not as close as we used to be, but I’d stand by them today.

I brought this up after reading the comments section of Haris Ibrahim’s blog (more on that later) to make a point about just how damaging the New Economic Policy has been to the Malay psyche.

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Malaysians increasingly view themselves as “us” versus “them.” The “us” could be Malays and the “them,” non-Malays. For Malays, the “us” could be those who subscribe to the “pure” form of Islam, and the “them,” the misled. For the Chinese, the “us” could be those who have adapted to the Malaysian reality and proudly display their Tan Sris and Datuks, while the “them” are those who feel that the very survival of the great Chinese culture and language rests on their shoulders. For the Indians, the “us” could be those who have forsaken their “anak lelaki” or “anak perempuan” of their birth certificates for a “bin” or “binte” respectively, acquire an affected Kedah accent, and voila, suddenly become ardent defenders of Malay special privileges!

What is surprising is the “elegant silence” of others. As I look at the roster of distinguished Malaysians now retired from academia, the professions, and public service, I am humbled by their integrity, intelligence, and contributions. I wonder how they feel seeing their fine legacies now being dismantled and in many cases defiled.

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mdshah wrote:

This is an excerpt from the finding of telephone survey by New Straits Times on 1200 respondents which confirm that racism runs deep in Malaysia.

Negative stereotyping is well entrenched:

• 58 percent of Malays, 63 percent of Chinese and 43 percent of Indians polled agreed that Malays are generally lazy.
• 78 percent of Malays, 60 percent of Chinese and 40 percent of Indians think the Chinese are greedy.
• 60 percent of Malays, 58 percent of Chinese and 20 percent of Indians believe that Indians cannot be trusted

The findings confirm my own gut feel about the state of ethnic relations in Malaysia.

There’s a popular saying that goes “Numbers don’t lie”. I know this sounds stupid so don’t shoot me but let’s put a positive spin on it to make us feel a lil’ better =)

Positive stereotyping (assuming there’s nobody who answered “I’m not sure-lah”, “Don’t know-lah”, “WTF?”, etc):

• 42 percent of Malays, 37 percent of Chinese and 57 percent of Indians polled agreed that Malays are hardworking.
• 22 percent of Malays, 40 percent of Chinese and 60 percent of Indians think the Chinese are generous.
• 40 percent of Malays, 42 percent of Chinese and 80 percent of Indians believe that Indians are trustworthy.

Wow…sounds much better…lol

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The MySoN (Malaysian Shape of the Nation) survey shows that:

• Malaysia has the most number of fat people in the Asean region.
• During the last 10 years, the number of fat people in Malaysia has more than doubled, resulting in more Malaysians falling ill with diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
• 48 percent of Malaysian men and 62 percent of Malaysian women are fat.
• Malaysian Indians are the fattest at 63.4 percent followed by Malays (53.5 per cent), Chinese (50.8 per cent) and others (45.2 percent).
• 13.5 percent of the Malaysian adult population is diabetic, compared with only 8.3 percent in 1996.

This happened sometime ago, but it’s kinda funny…lol…

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dhevi77 wrote:

I always get a little nervous before getting to Malaysia. No matter how much i try to prepare myself, I just am not. The more I think of the notion of “returning”, the more I feel isolated from the reality of it.

And then there are the usual mistakes and misunderstandings that constantly underline my existence there - the misconception by everyone, no matter what race or background, that I’m Malay, not Indian - and therefore by default, that I’m Muslim, not Hindu.

Hence, my nose-piercing gets stares, as does my uncovered head, growing sinfully lustrous hair. I’m too fair to be Indian ( as per the horrifically stereotyped notion in Malaysia that all Indians are the colour of charcoal ) but too well-spoken to be Melayu-mari. Many taxi drivers jump to the proud conclusion that I must be ‘kacukan’, or to be less elegant, ‘campur’ - of mixed parentage. Despite my polite ( and these days plain bored ) efforts to say otherwise. One even went so far as to try and convince me that my parents must be of mixed breed ( operative word being convince ).

Sometimes, we are too quick to judge and categorise people not knowing that stereotype in Malaysia is scary to some…

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