My mind get hooked by the word 'racism' for the past few few weeks. It happened when I read an e-news relating to this 'phenomenon' in Finland. The latest one was this
poll result which was published in one of Finland's most readable newspaper. Yet when the world is more open, the issue about multiculturalisme is a never ending debate. Can multicultural country/ies excel? Most of those who are positive in this particular matter refer to Canada as a role country. Canadian government invites those other nationalities to come and make their living there. The immigrants, especially professional (white collar employees) are given wide opportunities to mix with the local people and their culture. Is it a success for real? I don't know, I have never been there.
I am not trying to discuss about multiculturalisme in other country, including Finland. Although I have already been here for about 3 years, still I do not yet have clear picture about its success or failure in developing a multicultural country, nor is it trying to be one.
Malaysia has been lingering in my head.
Yes, Malaysia is a multicultural country. It is a fact that we have been living with Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Melanaus etc. When I was in primary and secondary school, I have Chinese and Indians friends and teachers. We knew that we are different in races and religions, but those had never been limiting factors to be good friends and developed good relationships. We played together and it's still fresh in my mind that we used our own Bahasa Malaysia as our communication. During those days, never a slight prejudice ever crossed my head.
But things changed a little bit when I was in the university. The Malay would prefer to sit among themselves, so did the Chinese and the Indians. But of course we still talked to each other, but to the minimum level. It was hard to see a group with mixed races. And at that time, I admitted that I started to feel fishy when they talked in their own language. But we did not feel that much 'fear' towards the Indians. Come back to think about it again, I think the reason is simple, because the Indians were just a small group there at that particular period. And furthermore, the Indians in the university speak English, a language that we (Malay) understand.
However, I am not saying that we had bad relationship back then. It was just.... a cold relationship. No soul in it. But I know even with the same race, to build a trustworthy relationship is not easy. Difference in faith and culture make it a little bit more difficult.
I believe everyone of us are racist, at least in our heart, or at least once in a while. Have you said bad things or felt suspicious about people base on their races (even if you do not know them personally)? I admit it, I have. And I felt stupid afterwards. If you say it to someone, it's like creating a gossip or slander. If you feel it in your heart, it's like a whisper from the evil, to make you feel suspicious and prejudice to someone before actually knowing him/her. Both of those act/feeling are forbidden in Islam. Yet we are still stuck in the mud. Why?
The first thing that cross my mind is because we have been hearing about this matter almost everyday. In Malaysia nowadays, media steered by the political parties play a very significant role in shaping the mindset of the people. Then, from racism, the thing is getting out of control when it comes to the most sensitive issue- the religion. It is sickening to read about these matters. All are in mess. In this case, I put the blame on every Malaysians including me. But, the biggest blame is to the Malay where the majority is Muslim, no matter whether they are in the government, political parties or just ordinary people. We fail to adapt the real Islamic values in developing our beloved Malaysia. We fail to show good examples. Astaghfirullah..may Allah forgive us.
If we worship Allah and put Him as the most important in our life, we would not feel suspicious towards others. We won't hurt the feeling of other races, hence InsyaAllah they will respect us in the same manner. We will not say bad things about them, or speculate bad stories without investigating the truth. Just because they are not Malay or Muslim, does not mean they have the intention to see us suffer. Just because we are not in the same boat as theirs, does not mean they like to manipulate us.
The problem with all of us is that we easily feel suspicious. We forget that Islam teach us to think positive towards other people. That is one way of bringing them to see the beauty of Islam. We easily forget and let the hatred feeling grow in our heart. Then we let them go through our words like:
1. "Bodoh punya Cina makan babi"
2. "Keling pengotor!"
I could not say it more...Those words are of ignorant people. Why we have to say something hurtful like that? Ok, someone might say that because they said bad things about us also. But if it is true, do we have to act the same way? Where is our Islamic value?
I always believe in the concept of give in to get back. Of course it does not include the obligations as a Muslim. But by practising deep patience and understanding in this human-relations kind of things, we will see the benefit. It's just a matter of time, whether we will get the benefits here in this world or in the hereafter.
Let's stop labelling. It's not the value of Muslims. Let's together think on how to build and finish the puzzle. InsyaAllah someday we will have it framed.
