Celebrating Harmony

It has been slightly over a week since we celebrated Malaysia’s Independence Day.

Here in Melbourne, the talk has been about harmony and unity; or the lack of – and the problems we face with embracing our multiracialism.

It is difficult to run away from the fact that we are a multiracial country, and through history and social circumstances, the face of Malaysia today is one that stands on that racial divide.

Back in my schooling days, it never seemed to be a problem. Race never seemed to be at the forefront of anything. It just seemed silly to segregate when we were all learning the same things, it didn’t seem to be a problem that one of my closest friends is half-Chinese, and another is Punjabi, or that the cliques in our classroom were never really divided by race.

It seemed something that seemed to jump out at me when I left high school, and as naive as this sounds, it was something that surprised me.

After all, I just didn’t see it happening.

Although I am of opinion that race should not be a big issue, much more considering how common intermarriage is, I suppose it is something that we cannot run away from.

I have no problem being Malay. It does not disable me, or enable me in any form – it is just something I happened to be born into, with genes that dictated I look a certain way and a certain ethnicity. I appreciate the cultural aspects of being Malay, the little rites and traditions that we do, it brings a sense of identity, almost, to who I am. I also appreciate that there are the stereotypes of being a certain ethnicity, and sometimes I wonder if people pander too much to these stereotypes.

At the end of the day, I believe we will all try to move towards betterment, and I believe that building bridges among each other is the best way to do so.