Melayu malas. Cina kedekut. India mabuk. These are some of the stereotypes we often hear till today.
The death of George Floyd has united people across the globe to protest for Black Lives Matter. Malaysians, who are always known to stand up for people in need have also voiced out their opinions on the death of George Floyd.
On the other side, a big group of Malaysians have started to voice out their opinion regarding the racial discrimination that happens in this country. The result of this particular voicing out didn’t not turn our well as it became a very big racial issue on social media platforms such as twitter.
I am honestly sick and tired of hearing Malaysians constantly fighting with each other based on one’s race and religion. Our ancestors fought for our country’s independence just so we could live in a peaceful country but unfortunately due to certain Malaysians who rather go with the philosophy of “Malay first”, “Chinese first” or “Indian first” has led up to us not being the harmony multiracial country that we are being portrayed as by the foreign media.
Couple months ago, Malaysians started to get infected with the Coronavirus. Although many lives were taken away due to the virus but one positive side we all should look at is how Malaysians decide to look out for each other without looking at ones’ skin color, race or religion. The whole of Malaysia united for the very first time in the year 2020 as there were many political crises in the beginning of 2020. Malaysians worked together to ensure that every ones gets their basic necessities.
There were so many volunteers helping one another without looking at ones’ skin colour just to achieve one goal which was to make sure we all could make it through during this tough period.
Another time we can see all Malaysians being united is when the national team or national player represents our country in a particular sporting event. For instance, when the national football team, Harimau Malaya is in action, every single Malaysian will stand up together and root for the team. I was lucky enough to be able to witness a few Harimau Malaya football matches at the stadium and when the Negaraku song is played, you will get goose bumps! Whether you are a fan of football or not, I encourage every single Malaysians to at least watch a Harimau Malaya match at the stadium.
Another athlete that unites the entire nation every time he is in action is Datuk Lee Chong Wei. This man has united the nation multiple time for almost two decades. Although he is retired now but he still voices out through his social media platforms on how we all should be united as Malaysians without looking at someone based on their race or religion.
“We Malaysians lepak sekali, mamak sekali, look after one another tak kira kaum (regardless of race). We cheer for our country Malaysia. Are we going to stop all these because of one random voice from the building?
“Malaysians are much much bigger than this. Let’s show that we are much stronger than all this nonsense. Spread love, not hate!” Lee posted on Facebook.
Unfortunately, racism in Malaysia is something that will never come to an end and it is really sad to see that we are only united as Malaysian during certain period of time like how I have mentioned above.
This is why I urge the younger generation to be more Malaysian rather than more Malay, Chinese or Indian.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate and if they learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite” – Nelson Mandela
I would like to end this by saying, Malay people should stop telling the Chinese and Indians to go back to their home country whenever there is a racial argument. Indian people should stop arguing among themselves based on each other’s caste and Chinese people should stop asking whether “are you Chinese?” before renting their place.
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