Has anyone ever thought of this?

Whenever a person ask you what Malaysia is, you’d say she is a multi-racial country. That is a big lie. We Malaysians have been living through racial segregation, no matter they were Malay, Chinese, Indian or other races. Our country has three different types of education system which is divided to the national school (so-called), Chinese and Indian. I think no other country has this type of system. Mostly Malays would go for the national schools, Chinese for Chinese schools and Indians for Indian schools. Amazing, we already segregate ourselves since childhood. I personally think that our education system is fucked up, with students being brainwashed by their schools to be loyal to their race when in actual fact what we need to do is to be loyal to our country. Don’t say it’s UMNO’s fault 100% – other parties are equally to blame too. MCA, MIC, Gerakan, DAP, Keadilan: no exceptions, all of them are defined by racial lines. I was told by my friend that Chinese schools are no different. Best part was that he studied in a prestigious Chinese school.

Well, you may argue, "Hey, it’s just different mediums of language, not races." Technically you are right. But in reality, it is segregation.

Go to local universities. Have a look. You'll see the Malay group, Chinese group, Indian group, lain-lain group but rarely will you see a 'muhibbah' group. Walk around in shopping malls. You'll see what I mean.

So, the answer to the solution: Abolish the Chinese and Indian schools and incorporate them into the national school system. Make Bahasa Malaysia and English as compulsory language subjects. Then, make every student to take up an additional mandatory language subject: either Mandarin, Tamil, indigenous languages like the Iban language, or other widely used languages. Plus, have two tiers of proficiency: basic (for those who are not familiar) and advanced (for those who already have basic knowledge). More emphasis will be given in speaking than writing, therefore making the language more useable in the future instead of just being another subject.

To be fair, this move will certainly be an unpopular move. The Malays would be shouting that their Malay Rights are breached, the Chinese and Indians would should this would be some Malay-supremacist move or a way to destroy their mother tongue and a form of keeping the non-bumi's as second class citizens. Political parties would harp onto the issue, quickly using the race card to get popular support.

But remember this: sometimes the wisest moves are not the most popular. Civil rights of coloured people were once a very unpopular subject in the US, particularly the South. Abolishment of slavery was in the past too was a highly unpopular move in UK and the US.

Unpopular as it may seem to the narrow-minded people and political parties or maybe a certain majority of the public; this must be done in the foreseeable future. We may not have any racial riots now, but we are already feeling the tension.

Being a "rojak" isn't great sometimes

Being a person of mixed heritage, have you ever been condemned by both races you originate from? Well, I did and I really see the inner demons of some people. Quoting my friend, "No matter what, there will still be racism" rings true in my head frequently. You will see how racist both sides would be, whatever race they originate from.

In secondary school, my friends always joked about me being a step closer to having a "muhibbah kid" and May 13th jokes. Those are the good jokes, and still do. There were also bad times and sometimes you are just mad about some people who do not really understand what they talk about.

My first racism encounter was in a public bus on my way back home. I was sitting when an old man came into the bus. I practise the habit of offering seats to the elderly, disabled, pregnant or the ones with young kids (unfortunately, I rarely use public transport nowadays). Being a concerned citizen, I gave him my seat. He thanked me in hokkien and then mumbled something which i don't understand. So I nicely tell him that I can't speak hokkien. He went ballistic, "You don't know how to speak hokkien ah?" "Can speak other dialects?" "Mandarin?" I said no. He then asked, "You chinese or not?" I told him that I'm of mixed parentage. I could tell that his face was a bit sour, but he did not go further about it. But he gave me a lecture about the importance to speak chinese, the whole journey.

As I went through my later secondary years, I still remember what my chemistry teacher told me that I'll have identity issues about where I belong to. True, but I do not really care about it now.

I can still remember a 10 year old malay kid saying "apa budak cina kat sini?" in front of my cousin and me. My cousin told that kid that I'm his cousin and I'm Muslim, that kid's face changed from a grumpy face to a smiley. Seriously, I really felt like giving a tight slap for making such remarks and being so impolite to people.

Another experience was when I was attending orientation for my matriculation programme. I was at the surau when a guy came up to me and said, "Ko sesat ke?" I replied back, "Kalau dah duduk sedap kat surau ni, ko tau lah". He apologised after that. Another was a bunch of chinese dudes who just ignored me when I wanted to talk to them just because I can't speak their mother tongue and the fact I have malay blood. Wtf?

Looking back, I see it as a blessing in disguise. I see how racism works, what it does and where are the problems here. I see the ugly faces of people. I see that how fucked up Malaysia has become - a 'supposedly' a multi-cultural society which all races live in harmony, that's bullshit. That is just a cover to cheat those tourists off their money, and a good way to lie to ourselves that we are. C'mon, our political parties are communal based, either the government or the opposition. Our schools are racially segregated. Go outside town and you can still see that there are still people who think more highly of China or India instead of being patriotic to our country. There are still people who looked at non-bumi’s as scum, saying that they regret giving jus soli citizenship to non-bumi's.

I hope one day all of this would be just history text books for our kids and grandchildren to study on. Then we truly deserve the title live in harmony.

A Day Trip - Kind Of

I've always been telling Yuffie that one day I'll bring Irfan out for some ice cream or something like that, and we'll get some weird stares from people with their "So young they have a kid already" look. LOL. Yuffie had another in mind, "When they see me, they'll be wondering how the 'mummy' can still stay slim even after giving birth." PERASAN. So yesterday, I got to bring him around with Yuffie, minus the ice cream.

That kid has some way of knowing things around him. Yuffie told me, that kid knows when he’s going out. So he took an early nap before going to One Utama. When I met him there, he was like shouting at his top of his voice, asking him great-grandma to wear the heels he recommends. His great-grandma and his mak ngah have to go for some womanly shopping, so I and Yuffie strolled around with him.

He was damn energetic. He was relatively pointing at every single thing he sees. After some time, he was a bit cranky because he doesn't like to be in the stroller, so we had to carry him around. Scary stuff. When Hanna and Faiz (my youngest two siblings) were just babies, they don't usually move around much when I carry them. Irfan (that is the boy's name), on the other hand cannot stop moving. He'll be twisting himself around because he wants to look around, making me a bit scared holding him. But after a while, I was okay about it.

Overall, it was fun. I think I saw some weird stares from people looking at us. XD