Once in a while, I come across some white boy in China complaining that the Chinese are racist because he is forbidden to date someone's pretty daughter. I thought if all you have in your horny little head is sex, sex and more sex, I'm not letting you near my daughter either!
Amazing what gets labeled as racism these days. In contrast, here is something I experienced back in my university days in Sydney.
I used to live very near the University of New South Wales and one night, a friend and I were cycling home after some Christian fellowship activity. It was very close to midnight and the streets in the Eastern Suburbs were fairly empty. My friend is a Chinese Malaysian, just like me. As we rounded a corner, we encountered a car full of skinheads. If you don't know what a skinhead is, the photo (from the Aussie movie Romper Stomper) will give you a good idea. They trailed our bicycles, screaming and hurling abuse and hate at us all the way. The main university gates were locked but fortunately we found one of those little pedestrian entrances that our bicycles could get through and we managed to slip into campus.
Whatever the skinheads set out to do, they achieved it. I was truly traumatized. I was in shock for a week and didn’t want to step out of the house. (Fortunately, it was the holidays and I didn’t have to.)
I don’t know if I was in Oz at the wrong time, but that was even before Pauline Hanson came along. Already there was hate graffiti all over the place: ASIAN INVASION! TWO WONGS DON’T MAKE A WRIGHT! People tell me Australia is such a nice friendly country. Sad to say, I didn’t leave with such a rosy impression.
In fact, I have never experienced anything remotely similar in Malaysia even though I’ve lived most of my life here. The Malays really are a generous people by nature and I am grateful for that. I say that even though my dad came close to dying in a race riot back in 1969.
To me, racism is when someone tries to harm you or deliberately cause you to fall because you are of a different culture, race or religion. So be careful who you call a racist.
[From young lady in Zhangjiagang (14 Apr 2009):
Just read ur latest entry. I totally agree with what you've said. I was fortunate though that i didn't have a similar experience to yours when i was in Oz. Ppl in Melbourne are generally nice and more accepting. And you know, I've never been in a more race/culture-tolerant country than Malaysia, and I'm grateful, proud even, to be a Malaysian. Even more so now that I've been to other countries and seen more of the world.
I wish I had more time to blog. Been bz lately. Well, do keep blogging. Your posts are always thought-provoking. I like your writing. You really should try and get yourself published. As for me, I'm still struggling to get just one piece of short story together. Wish I had your flair for writing.]
[From a young man in Fuzhou (16 Apr 2009):
I had quick look at your blog "Racism". That impressed me a lot, let me say this: I will feel safe in China, because I stay in an place that I belong to. If I want to live in America, I will be judged as invader because I may hurt or take off their interest, I mean something about culture, economy, politics, religion or something else. I beleive that when God creat human being, we are destined to be called a family that each human being need to recognize this point. We learn to respect each lives on the earth.. Racism will make human being ruined from this earth. In my personal opinion, love make peace, hatred cause war. when this world come to being full of hatred, we won't feel safe. each country has its nuclear weapon aimed at another countries, each people point gun to another people. We will call the time the end of the world, wouldn't we?]
