It is surprising that I kind of enjoy playing table-tennis in camp. Apparently the only sport I play is just badminton. Damn cool having Emile to unleash the interest of table tennis in me. We are like freaking amateurs who want to try out the sport for fun. Haha. At least besides psp-ing, playing table soccer, studying math and reading, I can have an additional activity to do in camp - TABLE TENNIS! Yeah...
No doubt that in any multi-cultural country, racial harmony and cohesiveness are important in order for the society to prosper. In the Singapore context, unfortunately, I feel that the level of racial harmony is not sufficient enough. Mrs Lim (my GP tutor in NY) told us an interesting point. Yuppies are mainly the Chinese, slackers are mainly the Malays and the rowdy are mainly the Indians. Surely, aware or not, such mentality is present in most (at least some) of the people in the society. Most would always think that the Chinese are the dominant ones in the country. The Malays, on the other hand, according to most, would be the ones who will be stranded behind in terms of education and income level. Criminal offenders are most likely to be the Indians. Degrading and disappointing.
Besides that, something strike me when I see most of the youths I met. The way they make friends are quite superficial and questionable. In general, I see that the kind of friends that they make is with reference to the RACE of the person. That way is inevitable, as people generally find it comfortable being in their own social circle (comfort zone, so to say). This is especially so in terms of language. Language is a vital point to effective communication. As the saying goes, SPEAK THE COMMON LANGUAGE. This could be the reason on my these youths choose their circle of friends based on language preference => race.
As a disclaimer, the viewpoints I am providing is strictly from my personal self and the surroundings I come from. What I have observed being in NS so far is that the probability of having CLOSE friends (I repeat, close) from a cross-ethnic group is lower as compared to the people from the same race. My point here is that as thinking individuals, one should not choose friends strictly based on race. What matters here is of course character. It is normal to hear the older generation of people saying, "Why choose people of another race instead of your own people?" and "Know your roots; do not forget where you come from." In Singapore, English is the national language, and therefore we need to speak this common language in our mingling with the people around us. Unless if we are talking about China or Japan where the national language is being spoken by the large majority of the people there. It kind of disturbs me being oddly transparent enough being in a big group of people from another ethnicity, hearing them speaking in their own language, a language which I do not understand. Some may blindly remark that they will feel weird speaking in English to their own people. Yes, it is pretty understandable. But sensitivity and respect do play a part here. Singaporeans may take the country being stable for granted, and hence, apathetic towards such issues. Imagine being in hostile countries like the ones in the African region at which race and language are viewed as sensitive among the people.
Myself, being a Malay, have to say that most (or some) of the people from my community do not have that sensitivity and respect component. And this, undeniably, is agreed by some of the people from the other ethnic groups. My statement may look like a sweeping one or baseless, but this is definitely a known truth - a social problem that has been with the society for years. Therefore, I urge Malays to speak the common language when having people from other races with you. Show them that we are the exceptional ones who care about respecting other people. I am very sure that those people will in turn feel remorseful and embarrassed, and hence, may follow our ways of communicating.
So think about it. Race or character should we choose from?
BLOGGERS = GEEKS. What do you think? Kind of a sweeping statement? I definitely agree it is...
E N D O F E N T R Y
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