Note: We are launching this book on Friday Oct. 25 , 3
pm at Zubedy. If interested, pls contact Hidayah at hidayah@zubedy.com. Below is the
foreword/introduction segment of the book.
FOREWORD
A man kills
a deer and takes it home to cook it for dinner. Both him and his wife decide
that they won't tell the kids what kind of meat it is, but will give them a
clue and let them guess. The kids are eager to know what that meat on their
plates is, so they beg their father for a clue. The father says, "Well,
it's what mummy calls me sometimes.” The little girl yells to her brother,
"Don't eat it! It’s a MONKEY!
As parents and adults, what we do and
say is imitated by the young. What we say to our children and what we speak
among ourselves will be transferred to our children. Sometimes we adults,
without even realizing and or having the slightest intent to be malicious, say
things about other races that may not be in good light. Already our children are separated by the
schools they go to, the places they live in, as well as the places they play at.
Because of this they do not have many chances to get to know and engage with each
other.
When I was young, I got to engage
with a lot of people from different backgrounds, hence this book is mostly
based on my own experiences with the Malays, Chinese, Indians, and Eurasians. My
business and travels have taken me across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and
Sarawak thus widening my circle of friends to include native Sabahans and
Sarawakians. I have chosen to write about the Kadazans and the Ibans as they
are the biggest native groups from Sabah and Sarawak respectively. However, I have
had some help from friends and did some research when writing about the Ibans,
Kadazans, and Orang Aslis as I did not personally spend enough time with them
to really get to know them better. But the idea is, when you grow up among
other races you get to learn about their good aspects as well as the bad. And my
experiences have shown that the good always outweighs the bad.
By writing this small and easy book,
it is my hope that parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and caregivers will
buy and read this book with their children. As children enjoy being read to, it
is critical that we acquaint them with the best of other races. From there on
we can introduce nice things about others to our children.
The best way to read this book with
your children is to combine the old and the new. Read this book with your computers
or tablets at hand so you can Google for more information, pictures, and/or
videos whenever you come across a reference you need to explain to your
children. For example, when you read the story about Indians in page 55, you
will come across ‘Kolattam’, a popular Indian dance. You can find videos of
Kolattam dances on the Youtube and you can watch them together with your
children.
I would like to apologise for some
generalisations which you will come across in this book that are unavoidable. For
instance, when I say the Chinese is hard working, I am not saying the opposite
about the others and when I say the Malays are nice, I am not saying others are
not. It is just that I see a certain cultural pattern emerging from the
different races where we can see that some seem to have more of these qualities
than others. This book is also a chance to share with your children that many
of us have shared values which are alike.
When you read through the pages, you
will see that this book actually talks about one’s ethnicity instead of race.
The two are similar in many ways yet distinct to one another. When we talk
about one’s ethnicity, we talk about their cultural behaviours, traditions, and
practices. Ethnicity is usually shaped by someone’s race but it is not solely
dependent on it. Ethnicity can be changed through one’s life choices, beliefs,
and experiences. On the other hand, race indicates our biological ancestry. It
is inherited in our blood. As this book is to be read by parents and children
together, I have decided to use the term ‘race’ to include all dimensions of
race and ethnicity because ‘race’ is a simpler word which all of us can
understand.
This book has been organised in such
a way that every narrative is followed by some reflection about each race. I
have included blank pages after each reflection. These blank pages are intended
for you and your children to spend time together discussing additional nice
things to say about other races based on their experiences with their friends both
in school and at home. I have also arranged the book content in an alphabetical
order, so it will start with the Chinese, the Eurasians, the Ibans, the
Indians, the Kadazans, the Malays, and it ends with the Orang Aslis. This is because I want to stress that there is
no one race superior than the other.
I want to thank everyone who has had
a part in writing this book. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Hidayah Mazlan who
helped me with the narrative section of each race, Nur Intan Dayana who worked
on the design and illustrations in the book, and Nur Syuhada Zakaria who worked
on the front and back covers. I would also like to thank Beelie Kong who worked
with me in coming up with the Many Colors One Race logo and M Prakash Dass for
editing the book.
Let’s be responsible towards the next
generation. Let’s start with ourselves to make things better. Let’s make our
children love each other better. We want them to be friends, not foes.
He who
experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings. (Buddhism. The
Tripitika)
Behold, how
good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity (Christianity. Psalms
133:1)
All within
the four seas are brothers (Confucianism. Analects. Chapter 12)
Let your
aims be common, and your hearts of one accord, and all of you be of one mind,
so you may live well together. (Hinduism. Rig Veda 10.191.2-4)
And among
His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in
your languages and your colours: verily in that are Signs for those who know (Islam.
Quran 30:22)
many colors one race,
anas zubedy.
