Stop Racism

I used to be so naive and believe whatever that people tell me blindly. Now that I'm outside of the box and seeing more things happening in the real world, I shouldn't just keep quiet anymore. I received a message on Friendster about Uitm is opening the intake to 10% non-Bumi. Apparently, and as expected, Bumi students were furious and held a demonstration. My parents told me the news this morning. For some reason, I had this feeling of 'lantakla..10% je'. No harm in that. It's about time that we compete with other races and together improve the nation. But, some people still want to perasan bagus with their color. Apa ada pada warna? My whole life I've been told that Malaysia is a harmonious country with people of different color, race and religion. There's no other place like Malaysia and that we are Truly Asia. My ass! Yea, we may look good in posters and advertisements, but in real life, we suck because we patronize our people just because we're of different races. I'm not just talking about Malay only but other races as well.

I'm a Malay, and proud of it. But at the same time, I get sick of majority of Malays who perasan that they are so bagus than others. Just because being the native of this country, they think that all should obey them, and that everything must be given to them first. I'm talking about Malay privileges here. It is understandable and rational that special privileges should be given to the native to protect their rights in their own land (although most Malays are descent of Javanese, Minang, Bugis, Arab, and the only true native is Orang Asli). But at the same time, it doesn't mean that other races have to be discriminated. I believe that whoever works hard, should be given rewards. It bugs me to know now that I got my scholarship based on my skin color. But at the same time, looking at my hard work and achievements so far, I guess I deserved this. Therefore, I don't feel so bad. But if there are Chinese or Indian students who are way smarter than me, and their only hope to get a better education is by obtaining scholarships, than that reward should be given to them as well. It is totally understandable to reject them if they are from a well-to-do family, but what if they're not. This is their only opportunity and we screw it for them on purpose. Itu sama la macam tabur pasir dlm periuk nasi orang. And people who does that can even sleep at night! Tapi bila ada anak datuk or menteri yang tak berapa pandai tu, dihantar jugak ke oversea dengan biasiswa walaupun bapaknya mampu sekolahkan dia. What's up with that? Is that fair at all? I don't think so.

I bukan nak membelakangkan my own kaum, but I just want everything to be slightly fair. Sometimes, I get offended by other races too for blaming me (or my people) for ruining their lives just because I was born a Malay. Other races keep complaining about how unfair their lives are and patronize us of our special privileges. Being born with a stigma that Malays are lazy, power-abused, slow-learner and such makes me feel horrible about my own people. As far as I know, I'm not lazy, I don't abuse my power, although I might be a bit slow-learner. There are other Malays who strongly think like me and would like to do something to make the country a better place. But people like us are usually being patronize as 'Melayu murtad' or 'tak ingat bangsa'. Just because we believe in equal opportunity we're being called that?? What the fuck??

Stop being so racist. Malaysia is so small on the world map and nobody cares where on the map our country is. Thanks to Dr. Mahathir for making us well-known internationally (maybe not the worldwide). Otherwise, nobody knows us. Trust me because I live abroad. When people asked me "So where are you from?" and I said "Malaysia." Their response would be either "Huh?" or "Nice......", meaning, they have no idea where the heck it is. But they know Thailand and Singapore! When a Chinese Malaysian or an Indian Malaysian goes overseas, people would automatically recognize that they're Chinese or Indian. But when a Malay (like me) goes to a different country, people starts to talk to me in Spanish. I'll be like "Err..I don't speak Spanish"..and they'll be like "Porque?", "Cuz I'm not Spanish." See my point here? What I'm trying to say is that not many people know the existence of the Malay race. So tak payah la nak hidung tinggi ingat kita ni superior sangat. Instead of focusing on our pangkat dan darjat, it is better that we improve ourselves and change our mentality. 

The reason that the Malays are always patronizing other races is that we are scared of our own weaknesses. We use our special privileges and so-called power to make a statement that we are supreme indeed. But in reality, we are a lazy, kiss-ass bunch of people. We want to be on top but at the same time, not willing to work hard. When we don't work hard, we don't get any smarter. However, being dumb CAN get you to the top as well by kissing some asses. In the end, we are on top. But, because we're initially dumb, we tend to make dumb statements and being laughed by other races. That's embarrassing ok. But for these people, they have no idea what shame is. They think they're becoming more popular instead. 

When I graduate, I'll be working in a government body. People may laughed at me for being a government slave but I'm just gonna play deaf. That's because I want to changes things for the better. It ain't gonna be easy but I'm willing to try hard. I get sick of people complaining that government offices are so slow with their services, incompetence, rude, lazy, don't know how to handle their customers and what not. Seriously. Have you people got no shame when other people call you that? Don't you wanna do something about it? Change your attitude perhaps. Just because you won't get fired doesn't mean that you don't have to do anything. People will keep calling you names. Tak malu ke?  

I'm not saying that I agree with what the Selangor MB is proposing for UiTM nor that I disagree. But if it ever happens, I hope and pray that it will make us a better person knowing now that we have to work harder to compete. It's for our own good. It's about time the Malay students be challenged so that they'll know that life is not bed of roses. I'm proud to have worked in Cempaka being the only Malay in the department. I learned a lot from it. It's hard at first being the only one and had no one else to turn to but it made me a stronger person. That's because I've worked hard to reach to their level so that they cannot call me lazy (being a Malay, that is expected). That's what I'm hoping for other Malaysians as well. Let's work together hand-in-hand to make Malaysia a well-respected nation. Stop pointing fingers to each other. Let's make sure that we can live together without making a big deal of our race or religion. Always respect each other for who they are. Be humble. Smile and say thank you more often to strangers. Open doors for people. Give way. Queue up. Wait for your turn. Believe in our Rukun Negara. InsyaAllah, we can live in peace and harmony. Don't just 'merdekakan' ourselves from the penjajah, but 'merdekakan' ourselves from our third-world mentality. Peace no war.