I don't believe in 'race' or ethnicity. But people like to classify everything - races, ideologies, faiths, social systems - name it. And racial problems are still the major issues everywhere. In the United States (E.g Mississippi Delta - blacks and whites live separately), Brazil (whites are regarded as having higher status rather than the rest), and you don't have to go that far - the countries in South East Asia for example Malaysia and Indonesia. Both countries were once dominated by Austronesian people and after the colonization by the Europeans, they've brought new immigrants - the Chinese people and Indians.
Forget about the history. It has been decades, Malaysia has been a sovereign country. We are plural Malaysians, with a few races living in the Peninsular Malaysia and more than 60 races living in the Borneo Island itself. I never knew that people can't get along in the West Malaysia. I have been growing up in Sabah for 2 decades and I mixed with a lot of people there. Being as a minor in Sabah, I have only met a few people of my own race. Even in the parliament, there is only one representative of our own people, but he has denied his ancestry for all I knew.
The landlord has come to me and she is asking me whether I would like to switch apartment with an Indian guy (acquaintance of mine) as he feels he doesn't fit in with his mates as are all Malays. I am not trying to rise up a racial sentiment but I just feel weird as what is the big deal of mixing together with the other people of not your own skin colour? Of your own mother tongue? I have been blessed as I have met with a lot of people and I don't really have issues with them as long as they don't play with the race cards. I have met with one foreigner who loves his country so much and I am proud of him. Isn't that good if we have the sense of belonging to our country?
Since the independence of Malaya, they have naturalized all the immigrants by the Jus Soli principle. Sadly to me, they have set up vernacular schools for them so that their generations won't forget their cultures and mother tongues. How about one national school that teaches all the things in the vernacular schools to all of its pupils? To me these vernacular schools and the set up of a University for a specific group of people are the mechanism of ethnic segregation.This makes the social integration to be difficult. Most of the non-Malays speak English or their mother tongue languages. Back in Sabah, when a Kadazan meets a Kadazan, they speak Malay language. A language is actually the medium for ethnic integration.I am quite fascinated by how Indonesia try to assimilate their native Indonesians and the non-natives. The non-natives speak fluent Indonesian Language and they use Indonesian names although the sad part is, they can't adapt to their own cultures and mother tongue languages.
Malaysia has been modestly tolerating the non-Malays. Of couse there was one riot, called13th May Race Riots, but it is not as worst as 1998 riot in the neighbouring country. I have realized that the Malay people have been succumbed to the non-Malays' requests but it seems they have never satisfied with everything. We Borneons, have a lot of races and we don't even have our own vernacular schools. I can't even speak my mother tongue language (that is almost similar to Tagalog language). Yet we never complained. Even in the text book itself, the history of Sabah is not very clear. Well, we don't care much really. As long as everybody is happy, we are happy (although this makes us forgetting our own roots even more).
I know a lot of crises have been happening in recent years. I hope everything can be solved by gaining the mutual understanding between us. And must you all know that everything has its own pros and contras. Sometimes try understand other people will make a difference. Always keep in your mind, that I am also not a Malay.
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