What’s soo special about today? May 13th?
On this exact date, 1969, the bloodiest riot happened between the Malays and Chinese. Ok, maybe I’m just hyping it up since I’ll admit, I don’t know anything about May 13 other than the Chinese and Malays fighting, a lot of people were killed, a very sensitive issue and that it was the blackest moment in our country that they’ve decided to not include it in our history textbooks.
You could find out more about the incident here but don't take it word by word cause you know... wiki. The best way to learn is to buy a book about it... which I should be doing.
But a lot of people asked, where there any impacts on racial relations because of this? Are we more bonded together after this particular incident? Depending on who you are asking, the answer that you’ll get is a mix of yes, no, dunno or I don’t care.
Before that, I would like to tell you that I am not racist at all. But that was before I entered university. Now, I shamefully have to admit that I am a little bit racist. You see, when I was in kindergarten, I know nothing about races. When I was in primary school, I’m still clueless but I do know the existence and differences between Malay, Indian, Chinese, Sabah, Sarawak and others… And when I’m in secondary school, the differences between each race seem bigger and more prominent.
Like in a blog I read before this, the Chinese dominated basketball, the Malays and Indians play football or futsal, the Chinese dominated scouts and PBSM, the Malays PKBM and Kadet Polis. But, even if it was dominated by a certain race, they still allow others to join in and play together, work together and without judging one another by their skin. Take for example, the Lion Dance Club. It is dominated by Chinese and the orders are also in Mandarin or Cantonese but I was delighted to see that there are a few Indians and Malays in that club. I really love it in my school because no one really cares about their skin colours. We could even make jokes about one another without the other getting offended.
Another plus is that my Chinese and Indian friends never and I emphasize, NEVER spoke Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, Indian or whatever language they speak amongst each other in front of me and my other Malay friends. In our presence or whenever we go out, they would speak either English or BM or a mix of both. Even when they have difficulty with that language, they would try their hardest to not make us feel left out or feel like they’re insulting us just because we don’t understand the language.
It shows that they respect us as their classmate and their friend. And that is what I truly appreciate and grateful for towards my non-Malay schoolmates. And that is why the racism feelings weren’t inside of me before I entered university.
Now, I admit that racism has stirred a little inside me and I wish to dispel it. But I doubt the ill feelings towards the other races would be gone soon. I guess I have to live with it for two years and hope that it wouldn’t grow any bigger than it is now.
You see, in university, I’m completely detached from the Indian community because in my course, there are no Indians. And as for the Chinese group in my class…
The number one pet peeve that I have is that when in a discussion or when we’re talking, first they talk to me in Malay or English and then if I said something that they don’t like or find stupid, they’ll switch to Cantonese or Mandarin followed by either giving me the stink eye or looking at me and laughing out loud. And I am really REALLY ticked off by that.
And yes, I know that they are crazy about their grades but it doesn’t mean that some of us aren’t. I’ll admit that Malays are notoriously known for being the laziest race in Malaysia but it doesn’t mean that every single Malay person in Malaysia is lazy.
So whenever we do our project, they would often strike out our ideas even before we try it out and expects us to follow their every lead because apparently, aside from being lazy, we are known to be the dumbest race in Malaysia. Oh, aside from being lazy and dumb, we apparently also like to steal money.
It pisses me off, it really does.
To make matters worse, in each residential colleges there is a club known as the Tiong Hua Club. They then have this thing called a CC family where Chinese juniors would be in certain groups with their Chinese seniors. I know you have to stick together and feel that it’s hard for a Chinese from out of KL to get used to life in KL. But when you do that, you’re not helping them get used to life in KL at all. In my opinion, PJ and KL (or maybe just PJ alone) is where you can find Chinese, Malays and Indian sitting at one table, gossiping or sharing a story or something similar to that.
The motive is good but honestly, I’m getting tired of my friend saying “CC this and CC that” whenever we ask her out. But maybe I’m a little jealous also because relations between Malay juniors and seniors are not as tight-knit as Chinese juniors and seniors.
Speaking of juniors and seniors, even the buddy system at my faculty is messed up. Apparently, no Chinese senior wants to take a Malay junior and help them out in university life. Nope, na ah.
And you know Malay seniors… they feel as if they deserved to have us worship the ground they walk even if we don’t know them.
So yeah, when I look back at my little rant, I don’t think that I should call myself a racist. It’s more like I’m a state-ist or city-ist (Malays in Shah Alam *ish shot*) cause seriously; my friends (who have flown off and some in private institutions) are not like this. That’s when I realized the people in universities often come from different states and that’s when you see the differences between Chinese from KL and PJ and Chinese from other states.
I think the other races (particularly Chinese) in KL and PJ are not really that racist and still respect other cultures and races because of May 13th.
… I dunno, I’m just rambling now. X3
Feel free to discuss or comment but make sure that it is relevant to May 13 or racial issues cause if you troll me, I'll troll you back harder. >=D
ps. Oh and I hope I won't be thrown into ISA because of this. (><)
2 resonating dreams:
Hahaha! Yeah, the cyber police will be waiting for me when I arrive at the airport for organizing this!
I really understand your feelings on the CC thing... in Canada I always noticed that the Lebanese stuck to each other, and the Chinese ESL students never mingled with the English-speakers, even though it was arguably the best way to learn English. It took a long time for me to understand that it's a comfort thing, getting used to a different place and seeking refuge in familiar spaces. I think for many it's a natural impulse, while others are bit more daring. But we must do what we can to be as un-stressed as possible!
It is so very true that different regions are so slightly different, which is a cultural thing that a singular identity flattens, and yet adds to the vibrant diversity of this singular identity.
Thank you for your contribution to #swarm13may!
Ahahaha! I think it's a wonderful thing that you're doing. I get to know more about May 13th... an event that I never thought had taken place in Malaysia. If it weren't for the political parties using it as a threat, I would have thought that it was just someone making a story up or hyping some small issue.
Yeah, I know about the comfort thing cause I'm sure that if I go to another country as well, I'd do that. But what I find annoying is that here I am, a KL/PJ local who is willing to befriend anyone and regardless of race with no hidden agenda, no one is willing to take the hand that I offered.
And when I don't offer a hand, they call me stuck up and a racist. Honestly, I don't know what to do with these people anymore.
So I guess I'm just not gonna care anymore next sem and just mind my own business and do my own thing...
And you're welcome!! =D
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