Even darkness must pass. A new day will come

Never the color of the Skin

Its been a nearly a week since I came on here to speak my mind. Well, has been pretty held up with work for the past few days resulting in a flu. It must have been the work of some computer virus there.Ok not funny. Has been with NCS for like 3 weeks already. There are a handful things that I encountered/observed and it has changed my perspective of aspects of life. From the title you should be able to get a rough idea of what I will be driving at today. Racism can be considered a rather taboo word in Singapore. To the world, we may seem to have racial harmony within the society with different races living happily together. But are we really like this ? Personally, after observing in schools, work places and public areas for years. I'm regretful to say that only a handful of us are really willing to interact with fellow countrymen of a different race.

Warning: Following paragraphs are just solely my opinion.

I will begin with people closer to my heart and lighter issues. Take my aunt for example, She openly admits she is a racist. She complains about the smell of oil our Indian friends like to use whenever she smells it. When I try to talk her about "compromise and accommodate", she just pass me off. =
In canteen and pantry, people tend to sit with their friends and most of clique is of the same race. People of the same race sitting together eating all the time seems fine but its not fine when they are all talking in their native tongue. Why do I say that its no good ? When you have people speaking in different races, it creates a shroud of uncertainty in the room, A clique wont understand what another group is talking about. This is where our curiosity and imagination can wreck havoc. A small misunderstanding is all it takes to create a tension which may just swell up to a conflict.

Enough of examples before I get too emotional. Anyway, you may think I'm being paranoid over such issues. Just a reminder, if you do study your history and general knowledge well, most conflicts and boycotts are due to unresolved misunderstandings initially. These misunderstandings then snowball over time resulting in a permanent gap between the parties. This is even so for racial issues, like relationships, it is as fragile as Chinas because once it is broken and even though it can be glued back in shape. However, the cracks will always be there. Things are just never the same again.

I do have one suggestion to prevent our precious china from breaking. I believe that all of us just shy to interact. I think the key here is to take the initiative. Do not wait to react but rather, always try to take the first step in conversation etc. Basically, just be pro-active and things may just take off from there =) BTW, I had lunch with a group Indian nationals today and they gave a share of their home cooked curry and colored rice.

This entry is not just about racial stuffs but it sure applies in friendship and more as well. Sometimes, it sucks to keep taking the initiative, but if the relationship remains strong and perfect, it sure is worthwhile.

~Nil Sine Labore

posted by the man @ 9:50 PM