Friday, March 24, 2006
11:06 PM
Malayness...the race based issuei was at kak neny's persandingan last sunday. we all budak2 silat had to tolong2 in the morning to set up for D-day hehehe so biaselah ramai2 sibuk2, step bz to get some of the things in order, while the pakcik2 seme siapkan 'pondok' for the gamelan performance. well, i went to the 'dapur' to wash my hands. so when i tanye: 'cik, tompang cuci tangan'
The makcik looked at me and said, 'ni melayu ke cine?'
I juz washed my hands at the hose she lent me and said 'dua dua pon bole, cik'
Sometimes, i feel that these is a preoccupation with race and wad constitutes difference would invite inquisition and apprehensiveness. well i hav no qualms whatsoever coz i accept the way i am and i noe that i am who i am, not what i am. =)
this comes to the topic of race coz the majority of things revolve around the notion of class-bias and race-bias. I know that i have been critical of malay organizations in my previous postings hehe but i suppose there is a need to review wad i have said in relation to what i have learnt. A topic of interest has always been on the role of Mendaki. On hearsay, many have criticized Mendaki's way of fund/help distribution because of the Malay-Muslim component. When students approach Mendaki for loans, they go through means testing and one of the criteria is to be Malay. This results in a respectable number who are turned down because they are of Javanese, Boyanese or Arab descent. What makes it worse is that when students excel, even Arabs or Javanese students miraculously become Malays and are given recognition by Mendaki through its annual awards. So the question of why Mendaki actually discriminate the Malay-Muslim community when distributing funds, but overrides race/ethnicity in recognition of success/excellence.
This debatable issue is on the onus of the discerning individual. No doubt i have been critical of such loopholes in the Malay organization, but i have learnt to appreciate or try to understand their actions. Mendaki a body representing the minority of the country has the task of upholding values and enhancing or advertising the successes of her representation. Singapore functions as a meritocratic apparatus and values entrepreneurial spirit and educational excellence. Because the Chinese have been the dominant race both politically and economically, the Malays have to rise up to the occasion to exert their influence and mellow down 'racialization'. One way to do this is to project the increasing successes of Malay-muslim indviduals in education. By celebrating excellence, it sends a signal to others that Malays are catching up , not take Malays for granted and also to contest the condescending labels imposed on the Malay community. It goes to show that there is a choice to break away from the self-fulfilling prophecy that accompanies labels 'Malays are lazy, poor etc'
So in fact, yes i agree that Mendaki needs to review its priorities on whether to help lower-income individuals but at the same time, appreciate the stance that Mendaki has to take to contest and overcome race-biasness in the Singapore context through the celebration of successful Malay individuals.
.sincera fazzy.
