Racist while muhibbah

“I don’t see race or colour.” “I am colour-blind.” “I am post-racial.” Sounds enlightened and progressive, doesn’t it, when people tout such Zen-like sound bites?

We hear variants of these in Malaysia all the time, quipped to friends, employees, colleagues, partners, etc of different races to qualify the supposed “I am not a racist” stance. Much like, “how can I be …phobic when I have a …friend?” “How can I be racist when I do not see race or colour?”

Race is a social construct, a convenient tool for us to categorise people according to loosely tied factors such as skin colour, facial features and presumed origin or ethnicity. There is nothing biological about race.

Which is why you have “white” and “black” qualifying as race in the Western world, and at home, we have “Malay”, “Chinese” and “Indian” as categories of race, which is quite ludicrous seeing how non-homogenous these “races” are ethnically.  

When the Low Yat incident happened, our politicians and police were quick to insist that this was not a race-based outburst of violence. It was nothing but a racially charged episode, and to deny that is dangerous.

By claiming to be post-racial (re: “muhibbah”) we stand the risk of not acknowledging and questioning the racial tensions in our society. For decades, the Malaysian government has been selling the message of “muhibbah” and “aman” – that we are a peaceful and harmonious multiracial country.

Quite post-racial our post-May 13 Malaysia was, and the race riots of 1969 were perniciously dangled in front of us as a threat of what could happen should we decide to shatter the illusion.

But the reality is far from that – we have become a society that is segregated, and racist policies are institutionalised at every level.

It has become the norm to see job postings unabashedly calling for “Chinese-speaking candidates only”. This is a thinly veiled code for “Chinese candidates only”, as Chinese is not a language, and what does “Chinese-speaking” even constitute when you have Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and such qualifying as Chinese languages in Malaysia.

What about “Bumiputera only” job vacancies, loans, special discounts for big-ticket purchases and so on?

Even our education system has been designed to assist segregation, but at least the tide here is turning as more and more non-Chinese pupils are enrolled and attending Chinese schools. However, I do not see the appeal for Tamil school to non-Tamils (making the distinction here because not all Indians in Malaysia are Tamils). So much for integration.

The allocation of state-sponsored scholarships for decades was delineated according to racial groups instead of focusing on merit and needs-based, and the same applied to the admission policy of our public tertiary system. Only in 2002 was the race quota for university admission abolished.

Externally, Malaysia is marketed as “Truly Asia” but internally, racial stereotyping and discrimination has become acceptable.  At the civil service level, the Biro Tatanegara is doing a commendable job of inciting distrust and instilling fear of The Others, and among the public, racist practices and remarks are becoming all the more apparent.

What’s interesting though is that no one admits to being racist. We make jokes of “lazy Malays”, “conniving Chinese” and “drunk Indians” while at the same time get outraged at racist remarks thrown around by our politicians.

We fight for our rights and freedom but we turn a blind eye to the many injustices committed to migrant workers and think nothing of calling them Banglas (the connotation we affix to the term) or Indons. I hope I do not have to educate you on these derogatory terms; I am quite spent from putting up a fight when non-Indian Malaysians use the term “keling” for Indians.

Some homeowners refuse to rent their homes to people of races other than theirs. How do I know? Because I was at the receiving end of many a rejected call to real estate agents when I was looking for an apartment to rent. The fact that I could afford the rental price and being an upright citizen was insufficient because I flunked the colour test.

If racism is at one end of the race relations spectrum, the other end would be the colour-blind or post-racial myth.

In as much as we would like to think that we do not hold to racial prejudices, we do and to hold on to the post-racial myth obliterates the strenuous race-relations we have in Malaysia. An antidote to racism that is often prescribed is to not see a person’s race.

That transcending race is the way to eliminate prejudices, discrimination and bigotry, and this is the myth of post-racial or colour-blindness.

When we say that we are colour or race blind, we are ignoring an intrinsic aspect of a person’s identity. It is our multiple identities that shape the lives we lead, influence the paths we take, dictate the opportunities opened to us and tinge the experiences we live.

Two men who are similar in every aspect of their identities but race would experience life quite differently.

The opportunities that are afforded to one would be different to the other, thus shaping the trajectory of their lives.

Because we live in a society that is racially unjust, each man would be advantageous and disadvantageous in different circumstances. If we are to say that the two men are equal in all aspects and that their race is not a factor, then we are dismissing the challenges they have faced because of their race.

Paradoxically, it is when we believe that we are post-racial and not racist that we do not think twice about playing up racial stereotypes in the media, faking offensive accents in advertisements, and making fun of names.

We do not bother learning how to pronounce names of our fellow Malaysians, constantly fumbling and mispronouncing names of people we have known for years. We make fun of others’ languages, and make it a point to patronisingly include specific sound bites to “appear relatable” to the person of another race.

Point this out to people and they will be quick to claim that it is not racist. It is ironic – we are embracing and celebrating the differences. But are we though?

So when we claim to be “muhibbah”, that we are colour-blind and we are post-racial, we should pause to check our own bulls***.

Are we practising what we are preaching? Are we reinforcing our racial privilege by choosing to ignore the inequalities and discrimination others endure? Are we correct to say that a person’s racial identity has no impact on their life just because we choose not to judge a person based on their race?

Instead of ignoring the racism that is thriving or working towards being colour-blind, why don’t we celebrate the uniqueness of each race and at the same time acknowledge the challenges that come with it.

We are all different, and that diversity is good for us when we acknowledge, respect and honour each other. After all, Malaysia’s biggest selling point is being “Truly Asia”, and we should embrace that. – July 19, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.