Have a meaningful
Chinese New Year
"I had been taught at home to be tolerant of others and to respect them." - Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu (1919-2010)
Do it for Unity:
Give tax breaks for multiracial neighbourhoods
Multiracial neighbourhoods are one of the best ways to promote Unity as it nurtures interaction from a young age. It is crucial that our children get to know their brother and sister Malaysians at home, especially as some children are separated in schools.
By living together in community, we will learn about and come to understand each other. When we live side by side, we become familiar with each other’s habits and practices. We share each other’s food, hear each other’s language and observe each other’s way of life; our beliefs, our odd behaviours, our sounds, our smells. We learn to appreciate all our different places of worship and religious practices: funerals, prayers, rites of passage, celebrations. We become acquainted with the other’s way of being… and in a natural way, acceptance and respect for one another are deeply ingrained.
In multiracial neighbourhoods our children know each other as friends they meet at the playground, before they even know about race. Hanging out in each other’s homes becomes a part of everyday life, discussing teachers and school, talking about the latest music and battling on Playstations together. They will laugh and cry together, and through it all they will learn their most important lesson - friends and enemies come from all backgrounds; we love and trust individuals, regardless of race.
With more and more residential communities being built, now is the chance for Malaysians to restructure how we live. We remember Kampung Melayu, Kampung Cina and Kampung India fondly, but moving forward, we need to create Perkampungan Malaysia. Malaysians of all races living in one community - what better way to practice Unity?
Choose to let our children experience the joys of unity in diversity. As a catalyst to create more Perkampungan Malaysia, we propose that the government provide tax breaks for those who live side by side with people of a different race.
At zubedy, our programs draw strength from shared values and traditions. We believe that at heart, all Malaysians want good things for themselves and for their brother and sister Malaysians, simply because our nation cannot prosper as a whole if some of us are left behind.
Let’s be first and foremost Malaysian :)
Let us add value,
Have a meaningful Chinese New Year
4 comments:
Hi Anas,
(a) my neighbourhood is relatively multi-racial... but people still hang out with people of their own ethnicity. if you provide tax breaks, they will collect their money yet racial integraiton would not have progressed.
(b) many folks in Kelantan, Terengganu, Long Pasia or Bario will be hard pressed to find a neighbour of a different race. Well, that's how historically their neighbourhoods have evolved.
(c) Racial unity can only be achieved if everyone believes the system treats them fairly. As long as one group feels that they are getting the short end of the stick, racial unity will remain a distant dream
MK, thanks for the comments :) here’s what i think
a) Yes, that may happen but historically not just in Malaysia but also many parts of the world, early socialization is crucial. I am sure living side by side especially in urban and semi-urban will bear better fruits
b) I don’t think there will be many new housing estates there. Furthermore social studies shows that the problem of integration is more in town centers and when there is no clear majority race in the area.
c) Totally in agreement with your third comments. Efforts must make sure that this does happen. The NEP was one of the programs to dilute this effect. But not done to perfection. Furthermore, it slowly biased towards a race based approached although millions of families among the Bumis got out of poverty ( fr abt 70% population in poverty to abt 4% now if am not mistaken), many pockets of non-bumi poors were missed. Fairly should also covers other than economic areas. While the non bumis feel short changed economically, the Malays feel short-changed where in terms of language, culture and history; they feel that if the government did not ‘force’ them on the non-bumis, they would have not cared. The earlier history of PAP’s (and DAP’s copy cat position to it) Malaysian Malaysia wanting to equalize the Malay culture with the rest notwithstanding history, is a bane to them. Today, many Malaysians – even MPs and ADUNs still cannot do justice to the language, have no clue of the Malay culture and a handful probably even harbour hatred .
Getting everyone to know each other from young will help the future Malaysians integrate better. Provided the parents also help thru:) A Malaysian i got to know, who grew up among her kind, went to school among her kind, encouraged by socialization and parents to hangout only among her kind, lived in Malaysia all her life but only tasted the wonders of Indian Banana Leaf rice at 28 when i introduce it to her. She was totally surprise with the taste that she resolve to get her entire family to the restaurant to experience what she did within a week – at Nirvana Maju Bangsar
Great idea Anas, kids r innocent and race-blind, their character r moulded and shaped by environment(including school)and home upbringing.If their parents say go out and mix, they follow but if their parents say dont mix, they will also follow order.
To be honest,I think we should emphasize more on nationality rather than ethnicity.When i was in US, i observed that ppl r truly assimilated, they are proud to be called American, ask the black, the asians,they tell u that they are American first, they dont harp on race.US is a melting pot of immigrants. The last factor i like to emphasize is the word "conditioning', a person behaviour can be changed to better or worse depending on conditioning,if u keep constantly telling the kid 'say that certain neighbour or race is bad", he grows up attached to certain view during his formative year.
I think kids spend lot of time at schools, this place can also shape one character. Reportedly, i heard cases where students of certain race were advised not to mix with ppl of other faith, not sure how true it is ! if true, then it is sad situation in this country.
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