Following my bigger-than-steering-lock middle finger rant, I learned that my initial assessment of her Peugeot coming out of parking position is spot-on but that isnt why Im writing today. Id like to discuss a more serious underlying issue in the #CDM25 fiasco. The driver is being trialled by many of us on all offences committed, but one offence interests me more than others. Racism. Some TV, Radio Stations and companies have came up with some good (and bad) ideas about this fiasco but none that Ive seen have touched about this particular issue. In the viral video, she said 2 things that really hit my upset button; you think youre Chinese, you think youre better than us? and another part she said something like ... dia Cina, saya tahu dia.... I didnt really catch what she said before and after that. I have seen her NTV7 interview where she seems to have sincerely apologize to all Malaysians for her rage and violent actions. However, she did not apologize to the Chinese specifically. I think its crucial for her to do so because the offence must have ignited some fire in the belly of many Chinese (not that it isnt already burning with some of our politicians being the arsons). She did however apologize for calling people Cina in her company FB page (which to me is the wrong kind of apology). According to her explanation in her company FB page, she had a bad experience with a Chinese who cheated her money; racist issue: i know it sound racist to call people cina, sorry! I have previous old experience with a chinese lied to me for my money. I do not think calling a Chinese a Chinese or a Cina is racist at all. It is merely being descriptive. A Malay is a Malay, an Indian is an Indian so a Cina is a Cina. We should be proud of our heritage anyway. When we dont know some Chinese guys name, we describe them as a Chinese guy. Nothing racist about that. Whats racist in what she said was the whole thing about being a Chinese. You think youre a Chinese, you think youre better than us? Now thats racist. And what did she mean by that anyway? It was out of nothing! Certainly nothing to do with the accident. Was she suggesting that the uncle is a cheat? Just because one Chinese guy cheated your money, doesnt make every Chinese a cheat! Ive been cheated by all sorts of people and I dont label their race as cheats. In a later part of the video, she said; ... dia Cina, saya tahu dia... Whilst i didnt catch what she said before and after, it was enough to know that she was stereotyping the uncle for being a Cina. Why? What for? Whats his sin for being born a Cina? Coincidentally, my late grandfather was a Chinese too, which makes me at least a quarter Chinese.. what did she know about me? Ya, saya Cina, awak tahu saya apa? would be my question to her. Enough about CDM25, now lets check the reality with ourselves. We condemn her but are we capable of the same, stereotyping, labelling, generalizing people for their race, religion, skin color? My friends who have worked with me should know that at work, I try not to give any preferential treatment for ones race. Looking back, I have promoted/developed more Indians than others in my short 9 year management career. Why? Simply for their each professional merits. I have also moved up the career ladder at some MNC (with Mat Saleh leadership) because I am a Malay. I learned that one if not more of my previous MNC companies do have an unspoken policy about promoting a balanced number of Malays so the company is not seen as being less-preferencial towards Malay. Is that some sort of racism? I may or may not have benefited from that policy so I wont judge it. Though not long after I knew about it, I resigned from my position and left the company(s) along with all other push and pull reasons. The thought of being promoted to fulfill a quota rather than being good for it puts me off. I unfriended someone for saying i dont want to send my daughter to Sekolah Kebangsaan because of Malay boys. Unfriended a few Malay friends for similar offences to other races too but I have been guilty similarly at some point in my life. I definitely remember calling Muniandy and Kumaresan unpleasant names when i was in primary school (they were the only 2 Indian boys in school and I called them names because of their skin color). When tauke Leong Hup passed away, I was a kid but someone shouted itu tauke sudah mampus (a very harsh way of describing death instead of saying died or mati or meninggal dunia) and I echoed the same words to a friend in explaining the long traffic jam caused by the funeral ceremony. All that said, without boring you too much further, Id like to think that we all are guilty of racial-generalizing/stereotyping/favoritism at some point or another. Whatever they were, lets forgive ourselves (possibly forgive even the driver of CDM25) and start asking ourselves to look beyond the stereotypes and become the better person regardless of what the politicians are making us believe, regardless of what our politically-protected Constitution says? There will be time for bigger things but for now, lets be the bigger person.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 05:56:28 +0000
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