It’s tough being Malaysian Chinese — Tan Shang Neng (loyarburok.com)
May 12, 2011

MAY 12 — As a young Malaysian Chinese, when asked to draw my vision of the year 2020 in our primary school Pendidikan Seni classes, I would draw flying cars, floating buildings, a city of steel and glass, people in jet-fighter styled suits covering arms and legs and a helmet to top, using jetpacks strapped to their backs.

Today, if asked to draw my vision of 2020?

I hope to have trees with leaves still green, less floods, less killing around the world. And, hopefully in the myriad hands I have drawn holding on to each other in the middle in harmonious unity, there will be a pair of hands with the colour that best represents my Chinese skin (another conditioning from primary school: “NO! People cannot be blue because they are nice or green because they are jealous! They must be coloured brown because this guy with songkok is evidently Malay, and this girl in this cheongsam must be yellow because she is evidently Chinese, and this Indian boy must be coloured black!” Boy was my little self so confused.)

It is not easy being Malaysian Chinese. We are not all Lim Goh Tongs, Vincent Tans or YTLs. Some of us are the Ah Kaus fishing for a living in Kuala Selangor. We are also the Ah Sengs peddling DVDs in pasar malams. Some are the Ah Tans, working as machais for the loan shark tailos. Many too are the Lim Ah Sings sleeping under abandoned hawker stalls beneath flyovers in the heart of KL.

I was not born into blankets sewn from RM100 bills, so it was a tough growing up trying to understand why there are people who say if you are Chinese, you are rich and greedy. It is hard to understand why people would brand people like my dear father as groups wanting to take over the country, when all he did was come home late from work weekly in order to ensure he will one day afford to put this son of his through university. It drives me crazy when some Malaysian Chinese demands for equality, that poor bugger gets told to go back to China or go to Singapore.

It is easier said than done for a modern-day Malaysian Chinese like me. Wherever I go now, I will be an outsider. Roaming places I will never truly belong. Sleeping in buildings I will probably never be able to call home.

In China, my lack of speech in Mandarin will highlight me as an instant outcast. They will favour their own kin before letting this guy — who looks very much like one of them but in essence anything but — to lead their companies. In Australia and the UK, sure, there will be equality and minimal discrimination, but to a point. You start of on equal footing as all, but as you progress, there is only as high a corporate ladder you can climb because your Chinese skin bars your ascent. Try being Malaysian and vie for a pupillage to be a barrister in the UK! You might be given PR in the UK or Australia, but you will truly then be a pendatang, born and bred elsewhere, made to scrap a living in a land with different social norms and values system.

What about Singapore? You might find it hard to believe, but there are Malaysian Chinese who cannot stand the idea of living in that city state! Sure, good money, relatively more efficient government and good transport system. But really now, Singapore? Fast paced, faceless?

So really now, if my home — my country, my Malaysia — asks me, a Malaysian Chinese — a budak Klang, no less — to leave…

…I will have nowhere to go to. No place to truly call my own. No place I can say my grandparents helped built. A place I once ate at a school canteen with one Amirrulah, a place where I played Sunday basketball with a Tan Kian Ping, a place I once mamak-ed with a Jagdeep Singh, a place where we would celebrate Merdeka at Ashley’s Melawis home.

It’s not easy being a Malaysian Chinese. To live in a country which often confuses itself if it wants you or not. A country where you are more often than not branded as a pendatang even though your grandparents were born here.

The truth of the matter is simple, there will only ever be one home for a person like me, and I will fight for it till the end. And you can put your bets on me fighting till the end for the right to remain in…

…my home.

It’s not just being Malaysian Chinese that is bothersome these days. It’s being Malaysian Indian. A Malaysian Dusun. A Malaysian homosexual. A Malaysian Christian. A Malaysian Muslim. A Malaysian tauke.

It’s just not easy being Malaysian anymore.

Is it really that difficult? To have a government which governs its people for the right reasons, to make us richer, healthier, better than the rest of the world? Can we all one day be free to live the life we chose for ourselves as long as it does not impose itself upon another? Can we one day choose who or what we pray to, to choose who we love, to choose where we die.

I want a day when I can wake up in the morning and have bak-kut-teh for breakfast, nasi lemak daging rendang for lunch, Italian for dinner and roti canai for supper without some person on television telling me how, when and where I can eat them.

It’s tough being a Malaysian Chinese these days.

Nobody wants us. — loyarburok.com

Well said.
But are you asking for the impossible?


So maybe the road to success may be painful but will you be willing to take the journey?

SChong54, thank you for posting this article. This aptly describes the condition under which non Malays and non Muslims must endure living in Malaysia and to a lesser extend in Indonesia.

But there are some forummers who will disagree with you, those who think it will only bring negative feelings to AFChat and that it will deter the usual suspects for ever returning to AF. Worst, they also regard this type of post as anti Malay/Islam/Muslim which is totally unfounded.

One in particular goes by the nickname Tangawizi who is most vocal about this type of posting. She will not hesitate to label anyone who dares to post such topic as anti Malay/Muslim. And if the content is about IDN, then it is anti Indon/Muslim. She will even go as far as to garner support by mean of a petition just to get rid of you. She will twist all facts even in the face of mounting evidence against her. She will label you as a troll and call you a host of other unsavouries names nevermind that your only intention is to spotlight the injustices done to the non Indon/Malay/Muslims.

Tangawizi who admits to be a 'Chinese Singaporean' considers this type of post as a form of either subtle or outright anti Malay/Islam. BUT then again she 'HAS' the luxury of living in Singapore where the minorities rights are respected and where they are treated equally by the majority, unlike in IND and MY. So she can be sanctimonious and can continue to pontificate ad nauseum. Afterall she never have to experience what the minorities non Muslims must endure day in day out scraping for a living in IDN or MY.

SChong, Sweeping this topic under the carpet is to accept defeat. AND THE PROBLEM WILL NOT GO AWAY. I am glad that there are some people who still have dignity and pride to want fairness and equal treatment in any nation. Appeasement is certainly not the solution and that is why if you, SChong, can add some humour and satire into your presentation, it is wonderful, and still gets the message across.

As I have said throughout, matters of differences of religion, race, and ethnicity, and wealth are topics filled with dynamite. But shutting out the problem only means that the problem becomes worse and the solution more drastic. To bury the problem for the next generation to solve is a cowards way out.

But the problem, is complex, as I have pointed out. But do the protagonists understand the problem and the causes of the problem. I fear that most people do not recognise the problem, and not wanting to air it or discuss it means the problem can never be resolved. The problems have to be identified, and then the options to resolve it must be examined to find the best solution. It is not impossible to resolve, but it may take a long time and a lot of hard and maybe painful work. But it must be discussed openly so that all parties understand the problem. That is what the internet is for.

Yes, its bloody tough to be a Malaysian chinese.

RAcism against chinese by the Malay establishment is rife. We all know this. But does that mean we chinese should be racist against the Malays/Indos in return? Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right.

So Chutzpah, I would like you to know that I do not consider a blog post such as It’s tough being Malaysian Chinese — Tan Shang Neng (loyarburok.com) as a racist post.

We may not have lived through the race riots of the 50's when our grandparents were living in the kampungs and slums... but we don't have to live through one just to know what racism is about.

It starts from our own attitude to our neighbors.

When I said that I sometimes wish I could move out of this ulu neighborhood, that's because of the old and bitter political rivalry between our "has-been" leadership (Mturd in your word and Lau Lee).

I don't think race relations in our neighborhood is so stable and cozy as to allow us to be careless with our words and to wantonly engage in dissing each other off.

Because of our diverse cultural heritages and religions in Southeast asia, and the persistent economic division in our societies between the haves and the have-nots, we have to be more than logical and factual in discussing race relations and religious injustices, we have to be humanists first.

Don't be so influenced by the PAP just because u live and work in Singapore. Lau Lee thinks that he is always right because he can back everything with facts and legal precedents. But not everyone is convinced by cold hard facts and legal precedents alone. There's the intangibles as well.

Sometimes, the guy that wins the hearts and minds of people is the one who is the humanist, able to touch the hearts and minds of his opponents.

For instance, however evil Bin Laden was, he was able to touch the hearts and minds of oppressed muslim folks around the globe. Even muslims who were engineers/pilots educated in the west were swayed by him to be willing to join the suicide squads. There was something universally humanist in his rhetoric against greed, exploitation and injustices committed by the Western powers in the carving of the middle-eastern states and molly coddling the military dictatorships in oil-rich gulf nations. It's a shame that Bin Laden misguided fellow muslims to react with violence instead of a Gandhi type of peaceful and non-violent uprising. Instead of bringing about a reformation of Islam, he caused something of an Islamic dark age.

Now the US is releasing video footages of the commander-in-chief to destroy this humanism in Bin Laden. They show how he was juz as obsessed about his public image as a rebel leader and how he cleverly crafted his image to all muslim followers. The US and their allies have always been careful to show their humanist side of things... always emphasizing how they are the democratic freedom fighter out to liberate the people.... why do you think history is on their side and not on the Bin Ladens' nor the mullahs'??

To win the hearts and minds of your opponents, show them you are also a humanist. You don't have to win each and every argument on logic and fact alone. The worst of all, be a racist or a phobic just to tit-for-tat.

In Malaysia, I don't really see any leading chinese figure who can step into the shoes of a true humanist like Gandhi. Maybe i am wrong..?

Somehow, we chinese are too pragmatic and selfish to come up with someone like a chinese Gandhi. Just look at Mao Tzetung. So the Chinese Have Stood Up after a long and bloody civil war with the kuomintang and the japanese, but what happened to him eventually?

He turned into a demagogue. No different from the debauched and incompetent emperors of china's feudal past. Most Singaporeans these days are saying the same thing about the Lee, Mah, Teo Dynasties ... where the children/grandchildren of the elites are being groomed for high political office.

Is Malaysia ever gonna come up with a humanist who can lead the malays, indians and chinese in peace and prosperity?

discrimination is real

GREAT read, schong54!

I used to study in predominatly malay schools and find the malay teachers there have the "Under Siege" mentality. The history teacher is the one that express the "malay race is under siege" mentality the most. Many justify the NEP that favor the malay race than merit as a form of protection to the Malay race. My history teacher told the students that Malays have to be racist in order to pevent them from being oppressed and discriminated. He cited examples that Thailand and Singapore practices discrimination towards their malay minorities in employment and Malay Champa minorities in Cambodia are being percecuted by Khmer Rouge.

cornhorlio, Firstly, welcome to this site. Secondly, remember anything I say must not be taken personally, but I would like to comment on some of your views. You keep on referring to the word, "humanist" as though it was the "magic bullet." So let us see what Humanist means:



Sorry, your view might reflect a Taoist or Buddhist view, but it would never be accepted in any monotheist community. So let us forget that from the very start. Christian morality and ethics stems from the Bible and its teachings and that is what guides them in all their decisions. Islamic morality and ethics stems from the Qur'an and the Hadiths and there is also no room in this religion or her followers for "Humanism." So forget Humanism if you wish to discuss Christian or Islamic codes of ethics. They will never accept humanism as the criteria for behaviour to one another.

The Islamic mentality of being, "Under Siege" is simply the Islamic ploy and rallying call to Jihad, just as "The Adhan is the call to Muslim Prayer." It unites and rallies all Muslims to unite to fight the aggressors. The unification of all Muslims to fight the infidel.

Firstly the discrimination in Thailand and Singapore is not anywhere as bad as it is in Malaysia. Secondly, the discrimination in Singapore and Thailand occurs not simply becuse the people are Malay but becasue they are a minority, the fact they are Malay is incidental. In Singapore, whatever discrimination the Malays suffer, the Indians do too and more. In Thailand the other minority groups suffer just as much discrimination as the Malays do.

In Malaysia the Malays are not the minority. Can you give me one example of any country in the world where the majority is disciminated agaisnt? Furthermore is it justifyable that you do something to someone else when you fear it happening to you in the firstplace? In otherwords is it fair that the Malays discriminate against other races when they fear discrimination themselves?

The Khmer Rouge, persecuted everyone regardless of race.

Ellexo, humanism isn't the domain of eastern philosophies, it existed in renaissance Christianity and medieval Islam too. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism

I have to say the "under siege" mentality that Corn's malay history teacher evinced, is also something which the older generation of PAP leaders like LKY liked to use to cow the sheeple into silent agreement on their policies.

This is a tactic that is not exclusive to Islamic ploys alone.

A very good point indeed.


Without PAP and LKY we would not have what we have today. Yes they are not perfect but then who is? Which City State which has absolutely nothing, even has to rely on Bolehland for water (a point which Bolehlanders use to bully SG) has in such a short time achive so much? Talk about water now SG has been able to produce water from recycling and desalination thus reduce the dependence on Bolehland almost up to 30% In years to come this dependence can be further reduced with new technology. So let's don't knock it but learn to be grateful instead.

It sucks to be Malay too... everything you do is looked upon as racist. Nothing is ever good enough. If a Malay is rich it's becoz of handouts. If a Malay gets a scholarship it's becoz they're the preferred race. Malays are and will always be seen as genetically & culturally inferior. C'mon, don't be racists.

Please don't misunderstand the situation in China. We're very welcoming of Malaysian Chinese coming back. I had a high school classmate from Malaysia! You should not expect to run a company from the start unless you've invested in it. That wouldn't be fair to the other 1.3 billion. Really, China is not unfriendly towards Malaysian Chinese. Just try it out.

Why are there so many singapor commenters in Malaysian chat? Got nobody to talk big to in your own chat?

How the hell did that blogger forget to mention Chinese becoming torture victims of ah longs when he already said something about loan sharks ?

Pardon me for asking. But what exactly do you miserable singaporeans have today ? A crowded rat infested flat and a job with Amahs-On-Wheels ?


Not really.
As long as my people are the richest & most technologically advanced ethnic group in the country it doesn’t matter what other races like to think about us.
Malaysian downtrodden minorities who receive free meals and handouts from malays are not qualified to judge us.

REALLY? Wow what a big mouth, better close t before it becomes a fly trap

Where and when did your people become most technologically advanced? Some are rich yes, due to handouts and corruptions. If you see a Malay drives a Porche/Merc/BM/Ferrari it is due to handouts and corruptions. If you see a Chinese/Indian driving those cars, it is due to their own sweat! That is the difference.

Here is the prowess of Bolehland superb technology you boast about, yes even after RM73 mil upgrade:

Penang Funicular Train: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...&sec=nation

China still welcome you guys, maybe if you drop the attitude and start behaving like normal chinese citizens instead of the we're special because were *insert country* chinese blah blah .. and for god sake malaysian and indonesian chinese are the biggest whiner ever when they actually live in China.

I'm a Chinese from Malaysia who now lives in Australia, I have never identified myself as being a Chinese citizen let alone a "normal" one whatever that means. There is a large population of Malaysian Chinese here in Australia and I would not describe ourselves a "whiners", we as a population are saddended that we had to leave our country of birth to succeed in life, and to some extent we are also very angry that the country we were born in is comeplled to treat us as second class citizens yet greatful that our adopted homeland treats us as equals.

Swingdoctor: Well said. Malaysia's racist policy is one of the most repressive in SEAsia. It is their loss yet they cannot see it. But time will be the judge.

As simple as this, you don't accept mainlanders as your kind, not necessary a bad thing. Therefore malaysian chinese are not technically chinese yet your kind usually bring China for argument against malay. Whatever China is doing right now has nothing do with chinese malaysian, so please keep PRC, China, whatever away from vs malay argument please. I know its tough to live in other country where racist people don't really accept you, then again it doesn't justify the common arrogance against "chinese from China".

I'm talking about "generally", not exactly applicable for everyone, but SEA chinese do like to whine alot. They whine for being discriminated in their home country, they whine when they do business or study in the states and China. Keep in mind I don't like how SE asian chinese are treated, but then again being arrogant doesn't help your case.

But we are not the same as mainlanders, and I don't think we have ever claimed to be. We are Chinese by race and by extension culture and this is what we have in common, but this is also in common with Chinese all over the world, not just China. We are not the same nationalities. And I agree that what China does with Malaysia has nothing to do with Malaysian Chinese. The main issues with "Chinese from China" honestly depends on which country you're talking about, becasue in different countries the issues are different.

The biggest whiners I find particularly on this site are those from the US. By definition whiners are people who repeatedly complain without any real basis, in my opinion, Chinese from Malaysia have a valid reason. Would you refer to Mandela as a whiner? Would you consider anyone speaking out against racism a whiner? And remember in Malaysia, this racism is institutionalised.

Actually it is racism based on Religious Bigotry.

Its actually just based on greed and power.

The reality is that Islamic ideology is a totalitarian ideology, seeking to rule and control every aspect of national life for Allah.

http://aaron-ng.info/blog/racism-in-singapore.html

I bet it is when you are spoon fed and don't have to have work, it is tough... I feel sorry for the Malays.. and when you are stabbed for making too much noise or raped by your local bomo and neighbour because you are too stupid:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...&sec=nation

6 yearsold stabbed to death

A SIX-year-old boy in Sabah paid a deadly price for being noisy, Metro Ahad reported.
Mohd Khairadri Awang Ahmad and two elder siblings were attacked by their furious uncle who could not stand the din the children were making while playing in their home at the Sandakan municipal council flats in Jalan Batu Sapi on Friday afternoon.

The uncle, who lived a floor below the children's home, used a kitchen knife to slash the little boy, his brother, Mohd Fadli Zairi, 12, and sister Nur Salinah, 10.

Neighbours rushed the three children to the Duchess of Kent Hospital, where Mohd Khairadri, who was stabbed in the stomach, was pronounced dead on arrival.

Mohd Fadli was treated for cuts on his chest and Nur Salinah for an injured wrist.

The tabloid reported that the children's parents were not home at the time of the incident.
The uncle, in his 20s, had gone up to their unit and warned the children to be quiet as their noise was disturbing him.

When they ignored him, the man went into the kitchen to grab the knife.
The two elder children managed to flee to a neighbour's house to seek help after the attack.

Mohd Khairadri, however, was found in a pool of blood when the neighbour rushed to their home.

Sandakan deputy OCPD Sup Fadzil Mohd Ali said a suspect has been arrested and was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

Troubled by a rocky marriage, a woman in Miri sought the help of a bomoh for a solution only to be raped by him, Metro Ahad reported.

The medium, in his 50s allegedly assaulted the victim after giving her a floral bath and persuading her to make believe he was her husband.

Thinking it was part of the ritual to treat her misfortune, the woman followed his every instruction and for two months did not tell anyone about what happened.

It was only when she realised the bomoh's treatment was not working that she made a police report on Saturday about the incident that occurred in April.

In a separate case, a 15-year-old boy in Bukit Mertajam told police he had been sexually abused by a man who had moved into the neighbourhood about a month ago.

The teenager said the man would sneak into his house each time his (the suspect's) wife was not at home.

The boy claimed the man, in his 20s, forced him to perform oral sex.

He lodged a police report against the neighbour after complaining to his father.

Thank you for proving my point...

It's really sad to read this.....

I heard that the population of Malaysia Chinese has been droped a lot compares to 70s. Several years later, maybe there are no Malaysia Chinese anymore. But I belived by that time, Malaysia's economic will collapse too.


Chinese brought good economic and wealth to the country, but they give discriminate on Chinese. If Malaysia's economic collapse after Chinese left the country. They deserved it.

Actually religion is the main issue, not race. If Chinese were predominantly Muslims, Malays have long intermixed and assimilate with Chinese people...Look at how well Pakistani, Indonesians, Arabs, Indian (Muslims), Bangladeshi, Muslim Cambodian, Muslim Thais become a part of the Malay culture, getting the privileges of being a Bumi etc..

This is in comparison with other SE country which Chinese people says are less racist, it's because their local people culture and religion are much more compatible with the Chinese.. e.g Thailand, Vietnam with a lot of Buddhist, and Christian Phillipines.

Chinese should not see themselves as the only victim in this case. Non-Muslim Bumis who are predominantly Christian and Hindu Indians are also being discriminated, albeit less obvious because of less number.

If you people want to resolve this issue, they should understand the very core of the problem...and for Malaysia racism issue, the above..

Simple!

It's time to establish Chinese Malaysian state in Malaysia. Where Chinese Malaysian rule the state and to serve their own people.

Well, basically Muslims are very racist.

Well they've done that, remember previously Singapore and then Penang...set to take KL as well?

A little less defensive might be good too..I read this article in The Star, actually Malaysian Chinese have always been complaining about the discrimination since the 70s, saying that Malaysia will soon spiral further downward by the NEP, but if you look, Malaysia has been progressing better than the countries that Chinese people are claiming less racist, e.g. Thailand, the Phillipines, Vietnam..

My point is, just by threatening the Malay people, that losing Chinese will spell doom to Malaysia is not gonna help you change the Malay mentality. Fighting fire with fire won't make Malay people become more tolerant.

So that's why I agree with Tangazawi, there need to be a Chinese Gandhi, softening the hearts of the Malays... quench fire with water...

Evidently, its tough being kiasuland's chinese too...

Yawn...enough already. Don't like Msia, then buzz off. Don't like Malay, don't be their friend, don't deal with them (I mean..us). Don't feel like Malaysian, then move to Singapore..or wherever you like...who the hell cares????

Typically stupid response.

Love Malaysia, hate the discrimination.

what love malaysia? what hate discrimination? do you know how long chinese people have been around in msia? where in the world can you find a group of immigrants who can't even speak proper native language even after being in that country for generations? Yet you guys dare to complain when we still look at you as immigrants? your people don't even have a sense of patriotism towards malaysia. we would be better off without people like you. stay in australia..don't come back...and ohh..don't forget to invite all your family members and friends to join you there...oke doke doc?

If you want to look at patriotism, just look at the recipients of Malaysias highest medal of valor the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa. The non Malays including the Chinese are over represented. When Malaysian sports people compete fro their country they kiss the Malaysian flag not the flag of thier race. Despite being discriminated against, non Malays by and large are still as patriotic as any one else. Furthermore, if you want to question the patriotism of non Malays, you should also question the discrimination that treats them as second class citizens. Rather then demanding their patriotism, you should also ask the question, why should they be patriotic to a country that discriminates against them and a race of people that continually threathens them, disrespects their religion and continually refers to them as "pendatang asing", forgetting themselves that they are also a pendatang. Rather then questioning their loyalty, you should be surprised that they are still as loyal despite their treatment.

Firstly the "native" language in Malaysia is that of the Orang Asli. The national language is BM, and although not every Malaysian of every race with the exception of Malays can read and write beautiful essays, everyone I have met can speak Bahasa Pasar well enough to communicate with another Malaysian. Including my grandmother who was born in China. Also where in the world can you find a group of "immigrants" who have been in a country for generations where they are still institutionally discriminated against. Besides, the biggest language issues in Malaysia stems from the education system which in itself discriminates against non Malays. If you want to be critical of the language skills of non Malays in Malaysia, then you should first and formost be critical of the discriminatory education policies which created this problem in the first place.

I am staying in Australia, I have no intention of ever living in Malaysia again, certainly not while the current system of govnt remains. The funny thing is the Malaysian govnt, is continually asking overseas Malaysians to return to Malaysia to help build the country. The Foreign Minister often speaks to these people at overseas universities. He stays quiet though when they ask him politely but pointedly, why should they return to a country that discriminates agaisnt them. Even then most still return. And an idiot like you still wants to question their patiotism.

Thank goodness for that.

Yup, as long as there are people like you there.........haha why should I.

It really irks you doesn't it, Singapore's success, you are always trying to put her down, why? Is it simply neighbour jealousy or is it a race thing or something else altogether?

Irks? Hahaha... I'm just giving the kiasuland haters a reminder that their own backyard ain't so clean either. Why are you hatin'?

Nobody's backyard is completely clean.

Me personally I hate bigots, I hate people who think they are better or more deserving then others becasue of the colour of their skin. I hate people who believe their religion is more deserving then other peoples. And I particularly hate people who use violence or the threat of it to enforce these ideas.

There's no doubt Malays are racist to some other group, particularly if there's little commonality between them. Majority of Chinese are not Muslims, and have culture that is quite distinct from the Malay than other groups - e.g. Indonesians, Indians etc.. and the fact that Chinese tends to flock together into one single community makes interactions even less. Generally some Chinese deem Malay culture are inferior to theirs (not all because some Chinese friends of mine tried to eat with their hands), straining the r/ship btween the two group.

I am a true believer that for integration it should start from when you're small. That's why I think people should support sekolah wawasan (vision school). To expect Peninsular Malaysians to send their kids to school of different vernacular system from their mother tongue is not gonna work (or will take a very long time), unlike East Malaysians (where a lot of natives send their kids to Chinese school). That is why I do not understand why is there little support from Indians and Chinese to go for this system if people are sincere at improving relationship between different ethnic in Malaysia. I suppose the government should be more assertive in implementing this, like how they did with English in Science and Maths.

I guess even the politicians are making use of the racial animosity ..

The percentage of non Malays attending vernacular has increased in the last 3 decades. The question is why. And the simple answer is that its because the govnt reserves the best public schools for Malays. The process is further discriminatory because the govnt has set up 2 different high school exist exams, again one wholly reserved for Malays.

It is the duty of every parent to provide the best education they can for their children, and if they can't find it in the govnt schools, they will look elsewhere. Why should parents send their children to govnt schools where they will be discriminated against and denied the best schools. It is the fault of the govnt that his problem exists until they stop the discrimination this will not change.

In terms of unity remember Muslims have been forbidden from attending religious festivals of other races. This to me is very divisive. Muslims are also not allowed to learn about any other religion. If you cannot study something, then how are you going to understand its people?

When I was a child I remember very clearly, my parents friends Muslims and non Muslims alike helping us celebrate Christmas an CNY, I remember my parents specifically catering halal food for their Malay friends, same thing happened at my grandmothers place. Now the Malays don't show up. Weddings, they come for the dinner but not for the ceremony. To me these things divides the races.

I suppose there's where the confusion lies (hence all the hype raised by Chinese and Indians). That is to think that vision school means the end of vernacular system. Establishment of vision school does not abolish vernacular system, but simply placing school of different system (gov and vernacular) within the same compound and with facilities being shared between these 2-3 schools of diff system, e.g. canteen, fields, etc.

Integration should start from the beginning, and segregating students from the start is the main reason of the racial divide. Malays do not understand the culture of the Chinese, Chinese do not understand Malay culture, Malays being racist to Indian etc. Some of my Malay friend never had Chinese friends until they left uni, whilst some Chinese friend of mine can't speak Malay (not even bahasa pasar) even until this very day. Even worst, I heard my friend stereotypically cursing all Indians just because one Indian was driving recklessly. If there is no communication and interaction, would you expect understanding and tolerance? In fact it's because of this there are so much prejudice about 'the other race' since the only means of them knowing the other race is through hearsay and stereotypes.

I would imagine had there been integration since they were small, there would be a chance where a Malay befriend a Chinese, and know that not all are that 'materialistic' and ' selfish' like what their parents said, while a Chinese would try to learn eating using her hands like her Malay friend, learning it as a cultural experience, which would have been frown upon by her parents. And besides, what is stopping a Malay kid to learn about the other Indian kid about his religion and culture by chatting with him, rather than expecting him to go to his wedding ceremony etc.

itarashi, you are being too simplistic. Each culture is so "exclusive" that inclusiveness is impossible. And the reason that is it impossible is simple, because it has been decreed by god. If you accept this Quranic verse:

Qur'an 59:22 "Allah is He, no other Ilah (God) may be worshiped; Who knows both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. He is Allah, Whom there is no other Ilah (God); the Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Security, the Guardian of Faith, the Majestic, the Irresistible, the Superb, the Compeller: Glory to Allah! He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colors). To Him belong the Best Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth declares His Praises and Glory: and He is the Mighty, the Wise."

Then people who do not accept Allah are infidels and can never be accepted, no matter how you attempt to integrate them because Allah will not accept integration with infidels.

the exclusionist policies of malays will result in malaysia being permanently divided on race lines. this is quite sad too considering that other muslim countries are more progressive.

how can malaysia be partners with china at the government level yet continue to oppress its chinese citizens? though legally there is no contradiction i think that this sets off many alarms in the eyes of real chinese that malaysia is a opportunistic country that cooperates with chinese as long as there's money but is secretly highly racist.

Yes but to think that all Malay subscribes to that fundamentalist interpretation of Islam and shuns all non-Muslims, is itself a prejudice.

And besides, integration is not the same as assimilation, as what you have described. Muslims are not allowed to assimilate with (i.e. to adopt the culture of) infidels, but integrate is a whole different issue. To integrate means to allow that community to be a part of the society, which is how the real world after they leave school is anyway. Peninsular Malaysian creates a false impression from the beginning that mini-society that they live in (in their educational institution) consists exclusively people of their own race. How do you not expect them not to have a culture shock when they go out into the real world. And there is when all the stereotypes are intensified, with Chinese saying Malays are lazy and slow, Malays saying that Chinese are all in for themselves, Indians cannot be trusted etc..

Frankly speaking other that maybe Qatar and UAE, Malaysia is more progressive than other Muslim countries.

Policies are made by the government, which are made from its people. Everyone is blaming the government but never thought that it is how the mainstream view things is what creates the policies, which is made of the Majority - Malays. And non Malays are expecting them to change their mindset overnight? which has been imprinted in them since they were little that their society consist exclusively of their own race? The vision school is a mean to n!p this mindset in the bud. Similarly for the Chinese and Indian. Which is why it surprises me why there is little support when the government came up with this initiative.

Simplistic or idealistic as it may seems, I see this in East Malaysia. A Muslim Melanau is a prefect, his Iban friend is the class monitor, his favourite Maths teacher is a Chinese and His headmaster is an Indian from West Malaysia; which is how it will be in the real world. I am not surprise how common it is to see a free-hair non Muslims walking side by side with her tudung Sarawakian Malay in Miri.

I did attend a vision school as a primary school student, in our compound was a govnt school and a Chinese vernacular school. I attended the govnt school and we never mixed with the kids from the Chinese school, even we the Chinese students from the govnt school. There also was an Islamic school next door to us and as far as I'm aware the malay students from our school neevr mixed with them either. There was a girls Convant school that we were all trying to mix with though haha.

I personally don't think that vision schools will work and I think for kids to mix they must attend the same classes, but for that to realistically happen the govnt must first abolish the current system of education and give the non Malays a reasonable if not equal access to the best schools and also an equal end of high school exams.