Us and Them (With thanks to Pink Floyd)

My nephew who is studying law had his first encounter with overt racism just the other day. A lecturer made some pretty disparaging, but increasingly common, remarks about the Chinese going home.


Us and them
and after all we're only ordinary men
me and you
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do


One can’t help but reflect on the parlous state of affairs in Malaysia presently. Contrast this with my own positive outlook just 3 years ago when I went cycling to, as the New Straits Times put it ‘reaffirm my faith in Malaysia’. See some of my blog entries from that time.. When I just finished the Celebrate Malaysia! ride, and my articles in The Star here and here.

At that time, I declared the Malaysia of old still exists. Certainly there was evidence of this in my encounters with the rural or less-urban folk. It would seem, however, that the intervening years have conspired to undermine my optimism. The numerous cases in recent times of increased racial intolerance seem to be evidence of a rising tide that we would do well to be more than just wary of.

In many ways I am unmoved. I still hold out some hope that things will be resolved and that one day we will move away form the politics of division, suspicion and hate and back to the ideals my generation and the generations before me grew up with.

But it seems those clinging on to power (and its attendant benefits and rewards) have an opposing view, using every tool at their disposal to create wedges and divisions among the racial groups that once lived in harmony.


forward he cried from the rear
and the front rank died
and the General sat, and the lines on the map
moved from side to side


In a way, this is not unlike a war. One where the Generals sit, manipulating the armies through governmental policies, the insidious propagation of racial stereotypes and thus racism, the refusal to condemn (and thus implicitly supporting) racist groupings or individuals and the tight control over any attempt to express a contrary opinion.

As it was in the Great War, the infantry were the sacrificial lambs, expendable and indeed, expended in great numbers. The difference lies partly in the fact the sacrificial lambs are not losing their lives, though many are losing their livelihoods.

The main difference though lies in the fact the Generals today are not manoeuvring to gain an advantage in a just and honourable battle. This is an economic fight and the rewards are personal financial gains, no matter the cost to the pawns. I won’t discuss the strategies, the reasons and the benefits of this modern equivalent of the ‘divide and rule’ ideology. We know how it works. We know they’re trying to make it work. And we know that with each passing day, their hold on power is gradually slipping and like the desperate lunges of a drowning man, they cling ever harder to the only way they know how to rule.


Black and blue
and who knows which is which and who is who
up and down
and in the end it's only round and round and round


Amongst the pawns, there are those who know no better and thus we can begin to forgive them their racist transgressions. But when one encounters an educationist who spews ignorant, intolerant, reprehensible invective as has been the case with my nephew’s encounter or with the two recent cases reported in the press, one can’t help but feel some sense of alarm.


haven't you heard it's a battle of words
the poster bearer cried
listen, son, said the man with the gun
there's room for you inside


I encouraged my nephew to speak up the next time he has a similar experience. Being his first time, he was understandably nervous and caught off-guard. I am hoping he will not be the next time.


Down and out
it can't be helped but there's a lot of it about
with, without
and who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about


Silence and neutrality benefit the status quo. And the status quo right now is totally unacceptable. It is, in fact, abhorrent. As citizens of a democratic society it is our duty to speak up and to protest against the ignorance and intolerance that is insidiously seeping into every aspect of everyday life.


out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind
for want of the price of tea and a slice
the old man died 


The foundation of how we operate as a society is based on certain tenets including respect for and acceptance of one another. Every society needs to engage within itself and without too, in order to grow and survive. Racism diminishes a society’s ability to prosper whether economically or culturally. Any government that chooses to allow racism to fester eventually corrodes from within and falls in on itself. History has enough examples of that.