YOURSAY 'Indeed, it is as wrong as racism by the majority against the minority.'

 

Time to go beyond Malay vs non-Malay mindset

Oriole: I thank Kathy Rowland for hitting the nail right on the head. It's a situation of racism and bigotry all round, state and non-state.

 

There will be arguments about causative factors and how it started. But at the end of the day, our institutions - family, religious, educational and professional - all are guilty of perpetration and propagation of this disease.

 

That needs to be addressed if we're to go some way towards eliminating this great evil.

 

Chin_2e46: Kathy, I congratulate you. The sentiments expressed need to be said loud and clear. Be assured that many people share your thoughts. Just go through the comments here in Malaysiakini , and you will see my point.

 

But don't despair. Freedom of thought and expression are both a boon and bane of democracy. If we embrace it, we just got to hope and pray that it is more often the former.

 

Onepen: Consider this. Year: 1966. Place: Machang, Kelantan. I am a young teacher there looking for a room to rent in a Chinese house.

 

The Lims, husband and wife, discussed in Hokkien whether to let or not to let the room to this Indian. Their issue was not racial.

 

They were concerned about my health. Their previous tenant, a Chinese, had been so miserly that he had fallen sick and the Lims had to rush him to the hospital. That tenant had left.

 

They decided not to give the room to me because they did not want to face a similar problem. They apologised and told me they had no room to let.

 

As I am from Penang I understood and spoke Hokkien. I decided to speak in Hokkien. I thanked them for their concern but made it clear that I wasn't like that type of person.

 

The moment I spoke in Hokkien, they were shocked but happy that they did not said anything offensive. They gave me the room, and we had a happy relationship after that. Moreover, they never cooked pork in the house and I had my meals there. Thank God.

 

Baiyuensheng: Onepen, that was 1966. Now we are all racists. I don't know when I turned ugly. May God give me the strength and wisdom to rid myself of my bigotry, of which I ask everyday.

 

I have thought of not reading any news again and see all these bigoted and racist comments, but it would be like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

 

I need to absorb all their racism and see whether it will get the better of me. Hopefully, there is hope and hopefully I can be healed.

 

Anonnona: True, racism by the minority against the majority is as wrong as racism by the majority against the minority. So why has this occurred and what is the solution?

 

Fourtan: What do we mean by racism in Malaysia? That is a very important question, and part of the answer is by not looking at racism through a Western-centric lens.

 

However, there is one form of racism that's unequivocally damaging, and that is state-sanctioned racism.

 

Telestai!: There are pockets of racist Chinese, Indians and Malays. We question how did we end up in this situation. The answer lies in the government.

 

The country is like a family with the government as parents and the citizens as siblings. When the parent is openly biased, expect the kids to develop intense hatred for each other.

 

David Dass: We may rail at what we see as institutionalised discrimination. We may condemn the extremists in our midst who promote division. But we have no excuse for being boorish and crass in our behaviour.

 

If at a personal level, we have attitudes of superiority over members of another race and we generalise every negative trait of a member of that race then we have no place in this society and perhaps in any other civilised society.

 

If aggrieved by things you consider wrong in a society take action - constructive action that is. Write to the press. Participate in forums. Join a political party.

 

But gouge out the racism in your own heart. See the positive attributes in everybody. And do not level the negative utterances of extremists on every member of his race. And likewise do not make all members of one race responsible for the actions of some members of that race.

 

And given the race-based parties in our midst and the years of 'consensual' politics, ask yourself what were the leaders of your community doing to ensure a more equitable or just society?

 

And dig a little deeper and ask yourself whether decisions made by those leaders were made having regard to the long-term interest of our society or for short-term personal gain by those self same leaders.

 

Do not in your day-to-day interaction with members of another community alienate those who have no politics or racism in their hearts by what can only be described as extremely bad behaviour. Or worse still, what can only be described as blatant racism.

 

Kilgore: This is a positive and well written piece. A nice reprieve from the hurricane of hate, anger and stupidity we struggle through these days.

 

Some may find Kathy's vision naive, but it's also the only one with a good ending.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.