2011 will end in a few hours and I think it is time to stop and take stock of what has taken place in my life and around me. A steady job, good colleagues and good friends are some of the blessings of this past year. Definitely my family has been the greatest blessing that God has given me.
This year has been a year of travel. From my yearly Singapore trips to the monthly trips to London and more, I've clocked more air miles and miles in the car than ever in my life. I am grateful to God for the companions He has given me on my travels. From Amy, Yiota and Alexia on my Cyprus trip to Huda, Samia, Shereen, Sumayia and Shahidah on my Birmingham trip, alhamdulillah, they have enriched my experiences. May God bless all of them for their companionship.
This year is also a year of being grateful - grateful for the little things like not being in debt, being relatively healthy, being in good company who always remind one another. Also grateful for - not being in Japan or New Zealand during the tsunami/earthquake, not being in Somalia/Horn of Africa for the famine, not being in Greece and other EU countries in grips of Sovereign crisis, not being in London during the riots, and so much more!
Oh Allah, may the new year bring my family, my friends and me closer to You. May next year bring us closer to one another as well. May next year also allow us enough to contribute enough to the wellbeing of our communities. May we be better people next year than we are this year. Ameen.
Saturday 31 December 2011
Saturday 30 April 2011
Is racial identity important?
Recently in Singapore, there is a big issue when the Minister of Environment, a Malay, remarked that Malay should be taught as a foreign language. On reading the various news and commentaries, I was unsurprised that I didn't really feel strongly about it other than the fact that I think it is unfair to the Malays. Seriously, it didn't affect me personally.
Several weeks before that, I met a Malay Singaporean who was studying in Cambridge and she asked me something to the point of whether I feel Malay? That is the question, isn't it? Do I think myself as Malay and therefore makes it part of my identity? Is then racial identity important?
If you ask me what my race is, I would say I'm Malay (and half Chinese), but that's because it is a fact that my father is a Malay. However, do I identify with Malays? Possibly not. I can probably say that neither my brother nor sister would identify themselves with Malays.
Perhaps that's because of our upbringing. Before going to the University, I had very few Malay friends. We grew up rarely mixing with the Malay kids in our neighbourhood, spending most times with friends from school. Given I went to CHIJ (a Catholic school) and then to Nanyang Junior College (a mainly Chinese dominated school), I grew up with a mixture of Chinese, Indian, Malay and Eurasian kids. At home, we spoke mainly English amongst the siblings and with our father. This was instituted by our father to improve our English. Culturally, my father did not and still does not practise much of the Malay traditions. We grew up mainly with Muslim values without the cultural baggage. For example, my parents did not do "kenduri doa selamat" which in the Malay tradition is a gathering where you invite people to pray for the dead and then feed them. But even then, I lost faith in the Muslim community as I saw them to be very inward looking, caring more for the form than the substance.
After going to the University, I rediscovered Islam. The friendships that I formed within the Muslim Society in university are mostly with Malays but the friendships were based on being Muslim brothers and sisters and not so much based on being Malay. However, as I grew up and started working and went on to explore the world, there are three great old friends who remained and none of them are Malays. I'm not sure whether they see me as my race but I seriously don't see them in a racial light.
As I look back now, I realise that race is not an issue for me. My family and friends are made up of a mix of different races and I feel belong to them. What I feel is I'm a Singaporean and I'm a Muslim. A Malay, a Chinese, an Indian, or any other race, or bi-racial, it does not matter as to who you are deep inside. What matters is the values you hold; that you should get to know people for who they are, not for what they are.
I think to reach a racial harmony in Singapore, the racial barrier and constant harping on racial identity need to be cast aside. We need to be racially blind if ever we want to reach true meritocracy. I think a race is an accident of birth...God's way to make things more colourful for us but nothing to impede our understanding of each other. This is especially true as we have more mix marriages. Like that of my brother's marriage. If he has children, they will be a quarter Chinese, a quarter Malay, and half Burmese. My sister's children are almost half Chinese, a quarter Malay and a quarter Indian (probably some Arabic blood as well). Are they expected to think of themselves in terms of a single race? Is it fair for them?
Therefore, no, I don't think a racial identity is important.
Several weeks before that, I met a Malay Singaporean who was studying in Cambridge and she asked me something to the point of whether I feel Malay? That is the question, isn't it? Do I think myself as Malay and therefore makes it part of my identity? Is then racial identity important?
If you ask me what my race is, I would say I'm Malay (and half Chinese), but that's because it is a fact that my father is a Malay. However, do I identify with Malays? Possibly not. I can probably say that neither my brother nor sister would identify themselves with Malays.
Perhaps that's because of our upbringing. Before going to the University, I had very few Malay friends. We grew up rarely mixing with the Malay kids in our neighbourhood, spending most times with friends from school. Given I went to CHIJ (a Catholic school) and then to Nanyang Junior College (a mainly Chinese dominated school), I grew up with a mixture of Chinese, Indian, Malay and Eurasian kids. At home, we spoke mainly English amongst the siblings and with our father. This was instituted by our father to improve our English. Culturally, my father did not and still does not practise much of the Malay traditions. We grew up mainly with Muslim values without the cultural baggage. For example, my parents did not do "kenduri doa selamat" which in the Malay tradition is a gathering where you invite people to pray for the dead and then feed them. But even then, I lost faith in the Muslim community as I saw them to be very inward looking, caring more for the form than the substance.
After going to the University, I rediscovered Islam. The friendships that I formed within the Muslim Society in university are mostly with Malays but the friendships were based on being Muslim brothers and sisters and not so much based on being Malay. However, as I grew up and started working and went on to explore the world, there are three great old friends who remained and none of them are Malays. I'm not sure whether they see me as my race but I seriously don't see them in a racial light.
As I look back now, I realise that race is not an issue for me. My family and friends are made up of a mix of different races and I feel belong to them. What I feel is I'm a Singaporean and I'm a Muslim. A Malay, a Chinese, an Indian, or any other race, or bi-racial, it does not matter as to who you are deep inside. What matters is the values you hold; that you should get to know people for who they are, not for what they are.
I think to reach a racial harmony in Singapore, the racial barrier and constant harping on racial identity need to be cast aside. We need to be racially blind if ever we want to reach true meritocracy. I think a race is an accident of birth...God's way to make things more colourful for us but nothing to impede our understanding of each other. This is especially true as we have more mix marriages. Like that of my brother's marriage. If he has children, they will be a quarter Chinese, a quarter Malay, and half Burmese. My sister's children are almost half Chinese, a quarter Malay and a quarter Indian (probably some Arabic blood as well). Are they expected to think of themselves in terms of a single race? Is it fair for them?
Therefore, no, I don't think a racial identity is important.
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