Are Malaysians Racist?

"The Malay Mail Online video titled “Are Malaysians racist?” ― which features Malaysians of various ethnic groups being told to repeat derogatory statements like the “Malays are stupid”, “the Chinese are “pendatang” (immigrants) and the “Indians are smelly” ― went viral the moment it was uploaded at noon yesterday.

As of 8.45am today, less than a day after its online debut, the five-and-a-half minute clip was shared an impressive nearly 50,000 times on Facebook and received more than 200,000 combined views on video-sharing site YouTube and MMO’s internal JW video player. It was the second-most watched video on YouTube in Malaysia.

Media Umno Malaysia and Friends of BN - Barisan Nasional also shared the video on their Facebook pages, with the latter saying: “This video is very heartwarming”.

Several Pakatan Rakyat (PR) politicians and activists like Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir have similarly shared the video on social media, saying it showed that Malaysians are generally decent and that there are non-racist people out there.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/are-malaysians-racist-video-proves-sedition-act-unnecessary-saifuddin-says#sthash.ZXc4cZ0e.dpuf."
Malaymail online.

I am not sure if I am considered the first or second generation Malaysian as I was born before the Independence in 1957. However i will safely say that my grandfather was here way before me and so was my father my grand mother and my mother. My grand father and father were from Srilanka or better known as Ceylon in the old days and thus those who were from there were known as " OrangSelong" in Malay and my grand mother and mother were from Sumatra and thus were Indonesians by origin and what does makes me being born in Georgetown, Penang; a "Pendatang" a migrant.  The village I was born in had almost ninety percent Malays, two Indian families and two Chinese families. I and my family had embraced Malay as our nationality since then as there was no other nationality we could identify with in those days. So we ate, sleep, shit and pray as Malay and toady out identity cards says we are Malays.
Growing up in the fifties and sixties my school years  there were racial discrimination but not due to any political or economics reasons, it was more like spontaneous reactions to confrontations that occurs there and then. These usually passe as soon as the confrontation was resolved or one walks away from any incident without any grudge just because the other guy was a Chinese or a Hindu. There was however greater sense of unity then one feels there is today, Malays eat and drinks at Chinese coffee shops without too much religious fuss and the Chinese were genuinely more concern about how their Malay and Indian neighbors were faring in their day to day living. Growing up in Penang was an extra special because the island was populated by a a very mixed racial group to an almost equal number and each has their own villages where the others avoid with respect and only enters if and when necessary to do so.  Hence we rarely see Chinese straggling along in Malay kampungs or vice versa except to do business. This was not due to racism but it was more or a respect form one's territory or avoiding any unintentional misunderstandings,

In all honesty I would personally say that Malaysians are the most Racist people i have ever known and with the same breath I would also admit that we are the most racially conscious people on earth and our sense of awareness of our identities of who we are is acute to the point that we are subconsciously in fear of racism. We fear what could happen has happened before in the May 13th.1969 tragedy. We Malaysians especially those who strive for the peaceful coexistence of this nation has over the years made it our responsibility to learn to Love and tolerate others no of our own race or creed and not all of us are doing it with great success as there a great many who are still lost in their ignorance and often becomes victims of those who exploit their ignorance for their political and religious agendas. These are the uneducated and they make up a great percentage of society belonging to all racial groups. These type were not represented as part of the group  shot on the video, and they were seldom heard except in their own street corners and coffee shops.
Sometimes it makes me wince in pain to hear what was uttered against other races by my fellow Malays in their conversations and i am positive that the same is true with other racial groups If and whenever it is wise and makes the difference i would step in and take the chances of defending those who are being attacked whatever their race, however most of the time I will just have to let it pass as what needed to be vented out, just as you sometimes even see happening on Face Book or twitter.
Having spent almost twenty five years of my life overseas away from this country, this community and those i grew up with, I have come to realize that those like me are more sensitive towards how one racial group behaves towards another. The levels of tolerance, the give and take, the sense of fair play and the demand for justice and equal rights, the genuine yearn to be accepted with trust and faith, all these becomes more transparent and often times I feel a sense of shame to be a witness to these acts in the society and among individuals. I always say that, nowhere in the world are the Chinese more Chinese and the Malays more Malays, the Indians more so than those from India and each and every minor ethnic groups in the country will stand up and defend their rights just as fervently as the rest of them and this is the true Malaysia that i still see today. If there is any blame to be made it would be upon the Government of the day and the Opposition members and the religious leaders that have since the independence used the racial divide as their major tool of divide and rule st6artegy..
These few brave and honest individuals who appear on the video represents the educated and those who have been raised with the realization that we have no choice but to stand up for each other as our future depends on our genuine awareness of the fact that we are One regardless of who we are for so long as we are Malaysians we will not allow for the undermining of our fellow Malaysians in any way. Our strength and integrity comes from our honoring this covenant that all of us are citizens of this beautiful nation that we will defend her against any form of attack to destabilize our Unity albeit external or from within the country itself. We will continue to educate those who have less understanding than us by all means in the street corners or in the coffee shops, so that they too will feel the same as we do about who we are. We are far from perfect, but we will get better. We will learn to look beyond our colors and heritage and accept what is our true destiny as a nation in this Global Village.        
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