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Are
you a Racist? Part 2 of 2
26 MAR 07
So
since I already scrutinized the Chinese, it’s the Malays’
and Indians’ turn to be placed under the microscope!
Malays
Now let us talk about my people, the Malays. The first thing that
comes to my head when I’m talking about Malays is the word
“hospitality”. If you have not been invited to any
Malay open-house during Hari Raya.. that means simply.. you do
not have any close Malay friends. I find that my Malay friends
are always comfortable to the idea of an overnight stay AT THEIR
PLACE. They do not mind if we make a huge mess or we’ll
be sleeping on their sofa. We used to have projects during art
college and we would stay overnight at somebody’s place
to finish our work together and usually the accommodating host
would be a Malay. If you are ever trapped in an uncomfortable
event or function where you do not know anyone, it is safe to
start a conversation with a Malay because I can see that the Malay
man or woman is approachable and accommodating.
My
Mum is a great cook and a lot of people can testify to that and
she has this habit of giving away dishes to neighbors. When I
talk about neighbors, I don’t just mean the family living
beside us. She would walk upstairs and give 2 more of her home
cooked food and then one more to a neighbor near the lift. I’ve
always thought that my Mum was some sort of a Ketupat Santa Claus
but when I asked my other Malay friends, they said their Mums
do the same so I realized that the Malays have this peculiar culture
of giving away food. And the neighbors are not complaining.
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My Mum
during festive seasons. The Ketupat Santa Claus. |
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if you are sensitive enough to see, you can notice that the Malay
is careful with their words and tone used. I watched old Malay black
and white films and the characters would spout poetry in mid sentence.
They stressed their point using subtle phrases about frogs under
coconut shells and squirrels jumping on trees. When they are in
love they spout of poetry about sweet honey and lonely flowers.
And even prior to combat, Malay Pendekars (warriors) would scream
phrases of severed torsos and severed tongues. Although
we don’t do that anymore, (actually I’m glad cause
productivity in the workplace would crash to a grinding halt if
all of us start to waste company’s time coming up with poems
instead of a straight yes or no reply) the code of conduct of
conversing is still the same. The basic rule is to watch your
tone and use of words. This code is so prevalent amongst the Malay
communities that if you break the code with your rude talk then
be prepared to get hurled with remarks like “Nama aje Melayu,
tapi takde adat.” Which translates “You call yourself
a Malay, but you don’t have the manners to prove it.”
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A typical
scene of a Malay black and white movie. The poems are so deep,
I just don't know how to translate it into English. Sorry you
guys. |
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Instead
of a straight answer, Malays would "pantun" (Malay poetry)
their way out of any predicament! But too bad this practice died
over the years. |
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One
more thing I would like to add is that the Malays are a very
tight community. They stick together even though how crappy
the statistics of abortion, drug abuse and too much time spent
on soccer, they are proud to be Malay and a survey done in Singapore
proved that. The survey asked Singaporeans if they have a chance
to have a race-switch to Caucasian, would they make the switch?
Malays make the highest percentage of the bulk that refused
to budge. Sorry Dan, we not like to be ang moh.
Indians
Ahh.. Indians. Some Singaporeans don’t even have any Indian
friends because they just make 8% of the entire population but
all I can say is that my best friend is an Indian, let us call
him “Al”. A friend of 10 years – that’s
pretty long. So if the Chinese are good at business and the
Malays; hospitality.. what is the upside of the Indians? It
starts with the letter “G”.. no they are not known
for growing grade A garlic.. if you have an Indian friend you
will notice this.. I’m talking about GENEROSITY.
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My best
friend Al. 10 long bloody years.
And no, he is not related to Osama. |
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I
can gladly proclaim that whenever I am with my Indian friend,
I will not go hungry. Haha. I would receive a treat in the form
of a free meal or even a small drink if we ever meet up. And if
I refuse, then be prepared for a major haggling session.
EB:” Nolah,
let me pay.”
Indian friend: “I’ll pay this time. You‘ll
pay next time.”
Next
time comes and goes and he is still paying. So much so that
I have to tell him to stop. He stopped for awhile then after
a couple of meet ups, he’s at it again with his “belanja”
spree. I thought nothing of it because I thought Al is just
generous that way. However, Al introduced me to yet another
of his Indian friend. Let us call him Selva. Ok, I barely know
the guy and we wanted to meet up to watch a movie… After
the movie, me and Al wanted to pay our share of the tickets
but he flatly refused to take the money. Now it’s me and
Al haggling with Selva but of course we failed (maybe we didn’t
try hard enough) and we got to watch a FREE movie.
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We really tried to pay our share. We really did. |
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But
bear in mind that these are not wealthy Indian friends I got.
Al is struggling to find a day job. He just quit his job as a
security guard at some condo and the last time I asked Selva,
he just got fired from some construction company because of some
dumb office politics. He used to work at PSA.. working as a container
lashing thing. But even when money is tight, their hands are not
heavy to sacrifice some dollars to people they consider as friends.
More quick examples.
I approached yet another Indian friend who owns a frame shop
and told him I need 3 large frames for some project. At the
end of the day, I collected the frames but my hands did not
even came close to my wallet. Then I needed this light box thing
for my art drawing. This is a custom made piece of gadgetry..
he will surely accept payment right? I came to collect it and
it was designed way beyond my expectations, even with a fan
for cooling and such. Like a gun slinger, I reached for my wallet.
If he does not want my money, I’m gonna force him to take
it. He took my money.. however he only took the cost price of
the parts! He showed the receipt and he didn’t charge
for labour! And I know that contraption took time to make.
Another example;
I know of a Malay girl friend who is dating this Indian guy
and one day I asked her what she sees in him. She list a set
of positive attributes and sure enough, she said the G word..
Generosity! So Hindu or Muslim, Indians are given this trait.
You can only see this if you have a close Indian friend.
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Malay girl. Indian guy. A fine example of
yet another interracial mix.
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To
conclude this article about race, all I’m saying that a$$holes
comes in every colour; white, yellow, brown, black, green. Whatever.
If you have made up your mind just by looking at the color of
the skin, then I say you have this disease of the heart and you
better find an antidote - I have it and I’ll give it to
you later. I do admit that every race has it’s own flaws
but what is important is that you don’t dwell on the bad
side and let it manifest in you but rather take the good side
and learn from one another.
Antidote
So how do you get rid of racist sentiments you harbor? Simple,
open your circle of friends beyond your own race; meaning if
you are Chinese, get to know more Malay and Indian friends..
And vice versa for both Malay and Indians. I realised that the
racist does not have any friends outside his race whatsoever.
Check your Friendster list.. how many friends outside your race
do you have? And when I say “friends”, I mean you
can actually call him and meet up and not just say hello and
bye kinda thing.. This is what we call acquaintances.
You
have nothing to lose but everything to gain. You stand to receive
tactical business advice from the Chinese, you get to be invited
to Malay open-house come Hari Raya and you get to watch free
movies and eat free food if you go out with an Indian. But don’t
befriend people for perks lah… I’m just stating
positive attributes that each race possess but few take note
of.. until now!
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Jab
it good and jab it deep!
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if I ever fall into the racist sentiment trap again; if a Chinese
person wronged me, I remember my good friend Dave. He is the best
Chinese friend I have for 10 years and his moral standing would
bring some people to shame. And if an Indian person wronged me,
I remember Al, who stood by me in times of good and bad. And if
a Malay person wronged me.. he’s just a jerk :D Bonus
advice: The jerk is easy to spot, if you know what to look for.
Don’t look at skin color. Instead look for 2 things; how
he dress and how he talks. If he dress like a thug, high chance
he is a thug.. But if the clothes doesn’t say anything much
wait till he opens his mouth to talk. If it is peppered with curses,
narrow-minded opinions etc.. run for the hills and safe yourself!!
And
I would also like to mention that we CANNOT AFFORD to be racist
in Singapore. Our country is diverse. All the races are not going
anywhere… it is a racist wet dream to see a particular race
“destroyed”. That’s so delusional. And one of
the reason why Singapore is such in it’s sorry state today,
is because we see each other as Chinese, Malays and Indians..
not fellow Singaporeans.. and as everybody knows, a divided people
is easier to conquer. We have been pushed around like rag dolls
and instead of uniting as ONE and sticking together and deal with
the issue, we divide amongst ourselves with trivial discussion
in forums about what the Chinese/ Malay/ Indian guy did in the
coffeeshop. Practically every decent thread started in forums
that discusses about National issues will quickly degenerate into
this steaming pile of racist shit. |
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I hope
not. I want racial harmony.. not racial sodomy! |
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| Oh
well, before I sign out, I would like to leave you with a quote
from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):-
“Do you know what is better than
charity and fasting and prayer? It is keeping peace and good relations
between people, as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind.”
(Muslims & Bukhari)
Racists don’t like this article,
Evil Bunny!
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