Race & Religion

It's very sad indeed that in modern days, the world is still generally divided by race, religion and politic. The races and religions are not to be blamed but we may blame power greed irresponsible politicians and the evil of human’s brains. The situation is very obvious throughout the world regardless whether you're in Malaysia, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, etc. There is no denying that racists and religion fanatics are still walking among us. The world thought that when the greatest racist in the world, Adolf Hitler, was dead and when Apartheid was crushed, the world would be free of racism. Unfortunately, it was just a dream of mankind.

When we were kids, we didn't bother about race, religion and politic. We played and befriended anyone. As we started schooling, we were slowly being brainwashed by friends and the segregation started. The segregation could be based on race, religion or even informal "gang". The "gang" I am referring may not necessary related to gangsterism – it can be just a group of kids with common idea/opinion/interest that other groups may not share. I hated this when I was in school because I wanted to remain friends with other races and I wanted to learn more from other races, instead of isolating myself and stick to one particular group of friends. In fact those days, at Standard One/Primary One, one of my closest friends was someone outside my own race that was sitting next to me. Maybe my exposure to someone outside my own race at such a tender age has led me trust them. I am thankful to have this particular friend who has unknowingly shaped my perception towards other races in my life.

Sometimes I question our education system. Has it failed in educating us to unite as one human race? Does it deserve to be called education in the first place if such a basic goal is not achieved? Education is not just meant for generating income in a capitalist world. The more important element is humanity. It is supposed to teach us not to act like a bunch of wolves or wild boars. We do not deserve to be called human if we act like animals. If our education system fails, there is a danger of having another Adolf Hitler on this planet and there is a possibility of World War 3. Do we want that?

I was so surprised about what I heard from a Muslim friend lately. My friend’s 6 year-old niece overheard his children speaking in English. She asked why they spoke in English and English was meant for non-Muslims. Obviously my friend was shock to hear that and asked her who told her so. She gave him a greater surprise when she said that her kindergarten teacher told her that. I wonder whether her kindergarten teacher should be fired or should remain in the kindergarten …. as a STUDENT. It was fortunately that someone in the family could teach the 6 year-old child the right thing from the wrong. I am now very curious about the fate of other children in the same kindergarten that were given wrong advice.

I am also aware of some families that cultivate racism in their children directly and indirectly. Sometimes a scare tactic used could give children wrong impression that other races cannot be trusted.

For example:
A Chinese family member tries to scare a child to prevent him/her from loitering outside the gate by saying “Indians will catch you if you go outside”.

A simple scare tactic like this may lead the child not to trust all Indians. What will happen if one day the kid needs help and the person offers to help him/her happened to be an Indian? This kind of small issue may lead to a major issue because the children may grow up to be the leaders of the country one day. The way we shape our children is the way we shape our country.

Ideally in a multi-racial country like Malaysia, we should be known as Malaysians rather than Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kadazan, Eurasian, Dayak, etc. Race should be removed from the identity card, forms and even our CVs. Race based political parties should not exist. You may accuse me for trying to get rid of race but what's the point of having a race if we're dead because of racial riot? Sometimes I question the necessity of struggling for race and religion because if everyone fight and struggle for his/her own race and religion contradicting with another person's race and religion, aren't we creating a conflict? Don't you think it's more proper to struggle for your country as Malaysians? I know some narrow minded Malaysians may not agree and accuse me lack of knowledge about race and religion. Those people are dangerous and considered extremists in my opinion because they're more likely to be the ones that sparkle racial/religion disharmony in a country, comparing with a non-religious person who mixes with anyone regardless of skin colour and religion.