Lessons From Our Children

We can learn so much from children and teenagers... For the past few years, Malaysia has had a tough time dealing with inter-racial issues. People were saying discriminatory and stereotypical things about other races, so much so that there is a general feeling of unease in the country. Politicians are not helping much either by bickering over trivial matters and making things more complicated. Many people were saying that they were not proud to declare themselves Malaysians anymore. It's just so sad...

No matter how much of these negative sentiments were splashed over the media day in and day out, I'm proud to observe that ordinary Malaysians are still sane enough not to get too emotional about these issues. Life still goes on. And despite what is being said in the media, Malaysians of all ethnic origins are still capable of getting along with each other. At least, in my school, I can still laugh, joke or show concern to my Malay or Indian colleagues. In fact, everywhere I go outside, I see people being courteous and helpful to each other, regardless of colour or creed. What I think makes me proud to be Malaysian is the fact that we are in fact a peace-loving nation, that despite all the negativity, we maintain our solidarity and keep a cool head.

There are also complaints from many quarters that schoolchildren are increasingly segregated in school according to their ethnicity. Even though they all study in the same school, Malay students generally prefer to hang out with other Malay students, Chinese students with their Chinese friends, and so on. As a teacher, I've seen a lot of this in school. It's true and it's really happening. I guess this is all due to the influence of the society at large. Somehow, the children absorbed these values and behaviours they see and hear from adults and the media. If this trend goes on, what will the country be like in 10 to 20 years' time?

Recently, some of my students showed that there is still hope for the future. I had given some work for my students to complete in an English lesson, but as usual, they sat with their friends of the same ethnicity. But as the lesson went on, they started fooling around with each other and cracking jokes. I had to say, it was fun watching them being genuinely tickled by their classmates' jokes and responded with their own jokes! In all my 6 years of teaching, this was indeed the first time I see students of different skin colours get along so well. Of course, as the lesson was still going on, I had to keep a straight face and made sure they didn't get too carried away with it, though in my heart, I was deeply touched. These children show that there is truly no barrier between us, except the ones that we set up ourselves.

As a fellow Malaysian, I sincerely hope that I can live to see the day when all Malaysians put the individual person above ethnicity, language, religious beliefs and culture, and truly be One Malaysia! Tunku Abdul Rahman would be so proud of us then.