Vivegavalen V. Valu is exhausted by the stupidity of some Malaysians.

There you go Malaysia: your weekly dose of social media sensation to quench the thirst of all the closet racists, pseudo-neutrals and “holier than thou army” is here. I know many of you will be jumping on the whole freedom of speech argument, but woe betide us all for the day this right was inherited; we’ve had to put up with more garbage than commentaries of actual importance. In fact, feel free to discard this article as one of many others that will come pouring through in light of the recent issue involving the non-Muslim students of SK Sri Pistana having to eat their meals in the toilet, because its significance remains firmly in the sensationalism of the news.

Now, I am not going to go into details for much remains unclear; however, what is clear is that every single issue in this country today is somehow associated with a person’s race or religion. When did we become this shallow? Why is a capable individual by law, blessed with the ability to act and understand the nature and consequence of his actions,  now the sole representative of his background? At every instance, one reads “kafir tiada hak”,  Melayu/Islam this, Cina that, India…  well, we don’t really matter till elections but hey, look, free bag of rice for everybody!

I no longer remember growing up in this country, my country, for the people were different then. They were more forgiving and less judgmental. They were more loving and less hateful. I stand proud knowing that I have genuine friends from all walks of life and varying races and that the bond we cherish goes beyond that of colour and religion. I wonder then if our children and leaders of the future will be as lucky, to simply be able to play a game of football without looking at the other as Cina or Melayu but as a friend and fellow Malaysian.

The fundamental problem with this generation — or rather, my generation — is the fact that we often look to our forefathers and predecessors in identifying where it went wrong and what they should have done better. The truth is, our parents raised us pretty much alright and our forefathers were the ones who agreed to a consensus of racial harmony in order to achieve independence. Who then is to be blamed? The answer is simple really: look in the mirror. Yes, you — you who claim to be a Malaysian first but fail to look out or care for another race, and especially you who leads the cry for justice and equality for all but refuses to shoulder the burden and effort required to see it through.

In the past month alone, we’ve seen two idiotic Malaysians post a Ramadan greeting with pork and a halal logo, another exceptionally rude Malaysian customer having a go at an employee for the shortage of a toy minion, and now we find ourselves getting all worked up because a Malaysian headmaster void of common sense decided to put the non-Muslim students in the changing room for mealtimes for hitherto reasons unknown. Now, re-read the paragraph again and note that the perpetrators were MALAYSIANS. Why should it matter that it was a Chinese customer and Malay employee? What if the situations were such where both the customer and employee were of the same race? Do we blame China for making the minion toys? Think!

The dichotomy of right and wrong should have no grey areas. Instead, queue the defensive zealots who fail to see the actual problem but chose to focus only someone’s race. What is morally and ethically wrong does not transcend a person’s race!

The saddest part of this whole fiasco is that we are genuinely peaceful and loving people who have allowed the views of others to blind us.

The problem isn’t just institutionalised racism but a lack of understanding, respect and common sense inherent in all of us. Yes, the Federal Constitution states that Malaysia is a secular country, but does that give you the right to disrespect another religion? Yes, Malays are the majority of this country, but would it kill you to protect your minority countrymen, be they Indian or Chinese, from being abused and oppressed by fanatics and fearmongers?

The path that we are treading is a dangerous one and if we cannot look past our differences and embrace each other as brothers and sisters of one country, then a repeat of May 13 should be the least of our worries for Malaysia will crumble. So the next time you see someone insulting another person’s action on account of their race, slap them — no, seriously, slap some common sense into them and tell them that insensitivity and stupidity knows not of race or religion and morons will always exist.

Featured image sourced from ThePinoy.net

The writer is a born and bred Malaysian currently pursuing his LLB (Hons), a diehard Liverpool FC fan and passes his time interpreting the subtle nuances of the many voices of the planet while sipping...

4 replies on “Of halal pork, minions and changing room meals”

  1. Eleven months of the year, we eat and drink, but in the month of Ramadan, we renew self-control and habit modulation in resisting our desire instead of becoming slaves to them. In fasting, we beat our hunger and thirst and keep all of desires under control.

  2. Ah, this is refreshing! Exactly the tone that should be adopted after all the recent hooplah. Enough of tiptoeing on eggshells with diplomacy. There have been idiots and there have been people acting like idiots and point fingers all you like but all of these idiots or apparent idiots are all MALAYSIANS!

  3. You are indeed right, but at the same time you forget that we are blind when a handful minorities are being racist towards majorities. Racism in Malaysia is not a one sided affair, but unfortunately the ones who see through this are opportunists who have their own agenda to build their so called "perfect nation". Unless we see through every views and thoughts unbiased, every solution to this sort of problem would make things worse.

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