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  • Still A Long Way To Go

    STILL A LONG WAY TO GO

    Sin Chew Jit Poh
    2009-08-20 12:14

    If it is already our common consensus that Malaysia is a
    multi-racial country, then we must agree that the country has to
    show multi-elements: multi-cultures, multi-educations, multi-economy
    and multi-politics.

    It is inevitable to have stronger and weaker groups among
    diversity. Thus, policies to help the weaker group are indeed necessary
    in certain historical period.

    But the problem is, they always exceed the proper limits in righting
    a wrong, making the acts to help the weaker racial group to turn out
    as the acts of pressuring other racial groups. Eventually, it leads to
    polarisation, resulting in mutual suspicions, distrust and exclusion
    among racial groups.

    Contradictions and conflicts brought by racial group-oriented policies
    can always be seen and it is already an undeniable and unavoidable
    fact.

    There has never been true equality in human society from the times
    of feudal empire until today.

    After the First World War, many nation-states were formed but the
    struggles among racial groups have never stopped. Instead, there is
    a tendency of getting worse.

    After the racial riot in Xinjiang last month, Turkey's Prime Minister
    Recep Tayyip Erdogan described it as genocide for Muslim Uighurs. But
    in history, Armenians, who had lived in Turkey for centuries, were
    expelled when Turkey was transforming from an empire to a modern
    country. It was a true tragedy of genocide.

    Similar examples can also be found in other nation-states. The word
    of "threat" has become the byword to "rationalise" their uncivilised
    acts. For example, Armenians were expelled as they were seen as the
    potential threat for the Muslim Turkish Ottoman Empire. As for Jews,
    they were killed as they were seen by Hitler as a threat to the purity
    of Aryan Germans.

    Today, there is the rise of "region-state" under the irresistible
    trend of globalisation. It seems to have challenging the old idea of
    nationalism, as well as the status of nation-states. But many ruling
    classes are still surviving on the symbol of "nation" or those who wish
    to seize power still refuse to give it up as their weapon. In order
    to extend or to seize power, the simplest way would be to constantly
    create divergence, split and fear among different racial groups,
    making a polarisation in the country.

    >From this point of view, the "One Malaysia" concept is good. But the
    condition is, "one" is no referring to monopoly, but the unity of
    diversity instead. It is a progress to drop the column in official
    forms that require race information. But the key is to abolish racist
    policies in order to remove the root of polarisation.

    It is still a long way to go. We need to put in more efforts if
    we wish to create new history other than in terms of ideology and
    racial identity!
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