Tiga-belas Haribulan Mei
May 13th, 2010Today is May 13th, supposedly a black mark in Malaysia’s calendar. Some voices are crying out in hate, some calling out for peace. Some wanted to rally, while most of us just want to get to work/class on time. Malaysians are modest and simple that way.
I wasn’t there when the May 13th incident happened, and conflicting accounts made me gave up on finding out what really happened. All that I was sure of was that it was a day when ethnic disagreements went to the extremes. Blood was spilled, hatred was in the air and everything was saturated with madness.
As one of the many modest Malaysians who simply want to get along and live in peace, I suggest you extend your hands and give your friends a quick hug. Just a handshake, a hug, and say “Thanks.” No need for any Salam Satu Malaysia bullshit. Quick, clean, and simple.
We are all Malaysians, and the least we could do is thank each other for not being out there causing massive traffic jams. Some of us still have exams to attend.
John Galsworthy
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Couldn’t care, everyone is equal so I have to love and hate everyone equally.
Because it’s not a problem solved by rallying or causing any form of inconvenience to others just to express frustration.
Probably only proper education and discipline are the only solutions to this.
You got that right dude! While some people want to go all out and pine on the past-
The rest of us still have our lives on the move! RAWR.
This entry made me chuckle by the way. :D
Those who thinks everyone is equal is naive.
Tell me why you don’t have a limited edition Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M in a garage at a big Bel Air mansion that you don’t own?
The riots of 13 May are probably noteworthy, in that they are a reminder of the simple common-sense advice: “Not to let emotions get through your head so easily.”
As a Malay living in Singapore, despite having a secular government/public space, a multicultural society and a meritocratic system, we’re being told that we’re lagged behind nationally, we’re being told that our middle-class Malays must do more for our less-than-performing underclasses (as personal experience goes, however, it can be very awful), spend within their means, and as someone noted, reduce our family size.
This issue had been noted by Mr. Githu Murai, Head of the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, UNHCHR, which the Singapore Government promptly rebuked.
Does not help that the so-called “Malay” problem is far-reaching (and applicable to other races in Singapore). Local celebrities had voiced out their proposed solutions to the problem, and there is a https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/bitstream/handle/10635/12980/Singapore%2520Malays%2520Attitude%2520Towards%2520Education.pdf%3Fsequence%3D1+malays+singapore+lag&hl=en&gl=sg&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjq1Yynlrs3uaMa3JIMQheRrUOtJASLDvehQyTf8AWH72Wd2R2IWhfpkZF24Z-yq-1SMnplkVv5ShBnBv-7mxSwWAtF-fZ4iujOiE1aEEwBoYWeWjB-j3JqboJQKUmXPjtpxw6b&sig=AHIEtbRBwyXnVVX6TOT8sJHpEkbYjTNZmQ” rel=”nofollow”>thesis on education of Malays in Singapore.
Probably I’ve transcended to a level that forgets about self-awareness of one’s race (as it has been increasingly seen, among my contemporaries and newer-generation friends), and that I had probably shun this problem as a microcosm of a society I am not willing to be a part of. As I had mentioned earlier, asking me to help out my less-than-fortunate brethen, while noble in the eyes of the devout, will not solve the dilemma: I must convince them to fish for themselves, and of late, they would rather have someone feed them than to work. I know: I have since cut off from my relatives because of the strain they put onto my family members.
So while I post up links to you, in the illusion that the Malays in Singapore are suffering because of the lack of affirmative actions, I have always believed that ultimately, it is my fellow brethens who need to wake up the idea of working hard, standing up on their own two feet, and as Malay idioms go, “kerja keras, walaupun sehingga kias pagi makan pagi, kias petang makan petang.” Because in a Sino-dominated society like Singapore (where every pan-Asian face has that trace of Chinese-ness in them), either they survive, or let the prophecy of doom in the Qur’an ring true: that the Muslimin are aplenty in numbers, but are always in despair because of their reduced quality of life.
“Blood was spilled, hatred was in the air and everything was saturated with madness.”
As I was reading this line, a saying pop out in my brain with Kratos voice; “In the end, there will be only Chaos !”
Too much God of War III for me sigh.
pink-pong : The same reason why you don’t have those things as well.
Those things, Ferrari or Malibu mansion, are merely ‘luxury items’ – they are not neccessities for a person’s survival, and you only can afford those when you have the means and desire to.
To me, having good health to be able to walk around and a pair of good shoes, as well as an apartment that overlooks a peaceful night scene decorated with highway lights, that’s enough luxury to me and I’m as happy as the guy who had the Ferrari and the mansion he wanted.
Everyone eats, sleeps, has emotions, craps and dies in the end. And how is that ‘not equal’? How can you say that a human is inequal to another just because he has more money than the other?
Please pal, before you start lashing out on the mental maturity of others, you should be thinking throughly on the examples you pick to challenge me – that was a rather poor choice.