Kon Onn Sein
Malaysiakini
Nov 1, 2012
As parents who are concerned with playing our responsible role in nation-building and bridging the ethnic divide, we had consciously sent our children to national school despite the horror stories of sub-standard education.
We had intentionally encouraged our daughters to make friends with their Malay and Indian classmates, especially the poor.
My seven-year-old daughter has been enthusiastically following our encouragement.
Today, when I chatted with her about her friends in school, she related that she had wanted to join her Malay classmates in their play during recess.
However, one classmate said this to her: “Kamu bukan Islam, kamu tidak boleh main sini. Kamu Cina”.
(You are not a Muslim; you can’t play here.You are a Chinese.)
It is so tragic that children at a young age of seven can say things in such a racist manner.
What has become of our education system that it is enabling such polarised thinking and polluting our children’s innocence?
One cannot blame this seven-year old girl.
But it does send an alarm bell of how deeply our nation is being torn apart by decades of racial politics.
Unless more is done to turn back polarised thinking that is inflaming our young, we will become a nation that is divided along ethnic and religious lines.
Religion that is meant to teach caring for one another has been used to justify ‘judgementalism’ and discrimination.
Instead of upholding the values of respect for each other, not discriminating along racial lines and looking for the common good in others, religion is being used in a narrow self-righteous way of private morality.
People are being judged according to the external: what they wear and eat, and how often they pray. True spirituality is ignored.
Integrity, working responsibly, caring for the poor, treating one another with respect, and speaking out against oppression of the poor have become secondary to external righteous behaviour.
Hypocrisy, favouritism, putting another down along non-rational ethnic and religious lines is not perceived with greater or even equal magnitude of evil as different dress and moral codes.
Something has gone terribly wrong with our society where substance is less important than superficial religiosity.
It’s time our political and religious leaders mobilise all of society to reverse this growing tragedy of all Malaysians.
It’s time all our religious leaders sit down to define the real ugliness of bigoted religion and pave a way forward.
Self righteousness of putting private morality above real spirituality is destroying this nation and their own spirituality.
Expressions of hatred, dishonesty, greed and pride are encouraged at the expense of upholding external symbols of faith.
Core values of having the right heart and attitude are sacrificed at the altar of hypocritical lip service professions and external dress codes.
We need to return to the true meaning of our faith, to accept each other as God’s creations, and to appreciate the different ways God has created each person.
Mahathir must be very pleased that his race and religion to split Malaysians is working till today.
Naturally with the present Education Minister and PM happy too….but time is against them.
School children can be brainwashed easily….but as they grow up….read..research…mixes around….even amongst their own race…many will love to discuss or debate privately….thus minds are opened….to be more open minded…widening the brain…and that’s what these devils in Umno B hate most.
Najib can only succeed to win 13th GE…if there are more racists.to continue Mahathir’s style…to divide and rule….where only dictators are doing that.
When the chief of navy justify billions spent on Scorpene submarines (when our waters are too shallow) to avoid repetition of Portugese 1511 capture of Malacca – its just DESPERATION FOR EXCUSES for racism..
Racism in this country has become just a dysfunctional insecurity.
When the Germans with all their brand of hard work, engineering power etc had failed to preserve their so-called Ayran blood, I just wonder what those who bend on recreating such image will achieve when they are lacking in most respects of what Hilter and his band thought they had inherited. The reaility of to-day’s world cannot just disappear by anyone who say” I won’t accept it!”. Such indoctrination as advocated by current leadership has only one objective: To subjucate their own society so that they can continue to lead them by the Nose! Indeed this SINFUL act should be made treason against the nation’s aspiration. If the thinking majority of the Majority of this nation still cannot fathom the impact of such educational process then you all deserve the outcome of this. Just awakening to the negative aspects of such process is certainly insufficient, YOU ALL need to advocate against it. It is denitely difficult for the rest of the nation to advocate any change as the children had already been permeated with the thought based on religous beliefs! Turkey as the most modern Muslim society today is still not in the top 15% of the world economy based on per capital income and we must say that they have attmepted changes after WWI!
This is no surprise.
Grossly misguided, narrow and damaging politics of race and religion had destroyed our society….national schools for inclusiveness, diversity and integration are a total failure.
MCA’s boss would say: Y d surprise? Of cos mah, we r based on racist parties n we nonMalays must not expect much
She should have replied ‘Saya Cina beragama Islam’ and then see what would be the reaction.
“Kamu bukan Islam, kamu tidak boleh main sini. Kamu Cina”.
That is clearly not what young children would say. They must be parroting their parents’ warning. I bet my last sperm their parents are umno people.
I completely agreed with Nurul comments on religious freedom. It was great of her. She will have my vote come GE13. Hope the rakyat will vote her come GE13. We are fed up with those so called Islamic experts, bigots and holier than thou who are all blinded by their own faith.