Me: Look at this hilarious video.
Zohar: I don’t understand him.
Me: (laughs)
Zohar: Why are you laughing? You should be sad.
Me: (laughs somewhat more self-consciously)
*silence*
Needless to say, I felt depressed and even more frustrated several minutes after the conversation above. To Malaysians, we have had to tolerate with so much crap from the ruling elite that what was on the video was simply hilarious. Not only was his English indecipherable to non-Malaysians, he did not answer any of the questions and he sounded like a flustered school boy who was caught red handed
My friends here are bemused if not bewildered when I tell them about Malaysia. They find it hard to believe that everything is so racial that even the main political parties are polarized by skin color. They can’t fathom the fact that our skin color can determine where we go to college. And I don’t even want to get started with the ambiguity of the law when it comes to religion and the very existence of faith rehabilitation centers.
Going to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis taught me one thing. Change takes time. A lot of time. Laws may be passed and rights may be recognized but people are stubborn. Despite our revolutionary technological progress, attitudes and prejudices can be difficult to change especially after years of molding and hardening.
Clearly Malaysia has a long way to go from even changing it’s racial laws and policies. What we need now is a stronger political voice. I’m glad that these rallies happened. It’s a sign that many Malaysians are unhappy and they want things to change so bad that threats and acts of violence against them won’t deter their spirits. But I do not want to see bloodied riots and mass arrests. The government needs to see that suppressing other views and opinions will no longer work. The rakyats are becoming restless.
If it weren’t for the wonderful young Malaysians on the internet writing for a better country, inspiring others, I would have already made my decision to leave. I want to live a life of sincerity and prosperity, not of hypocrisy and fear.
I’m torn.
Shmarrred in Chambana-land 