FEB 26 — Some of us encounter backhanded compliments, poorly-phrased questions and thoughtless comments about our appearance and origin in our daily interactions.
We in turn shine a light on such close-mindedness and inevitably rage about “racial aggression”. Sure, insensitive remarks invite anger but they don’t necessarily stem from hatred.
People tend to spew deadened remarks without thinking and fail to consider how others might perceive their words.
Then again, people are too easily offended. Children of mixed parentage have been called all sorts of names while others, mostly minorities, have been victims of racism, sexism, religious intolerance and every other form of harassment and discrimination.
So, recent joy over the proposal by the National Unity Consultative Council to remove the race column in all paperwork in the country is understandable.
The proposal, however, is to only remove the race category in official forms. The plan should also get people thinking about the way they interact with others and to encourage them to be more sensitive about the language they use.
What may be intended as a compliment could come across as a racially charged insult, like in the case of a lady friend who was told: ‘You’re really sweet... for a fat, dark-skinned girl’.
On occasions, I have had fellow Malaysians asking me, “where are you from?” even after I had told them my name. I have been asked why I look the way I do and why I dress the way I do.
The “kindly” questions rendered me, momentarily, entirely stateless and shockingly adrift.
It could have been they were interested in other people who are different — and honestly I don’t wish to know.
Still, it highlights the insularity and ignorance of a great many otherwise lovely and hospitable Malaysians.
Malaysia is fast becoming a land of intensely insular enclaves that indulge in mindless stereotyping of fellow citizens. If your nationality is Malaysian, your race is Malaysian.
Isn’t ticking the race column a reflection of laws, policy, entitlement programmes and funding that exists along explicit racial lines? Isn’t it effectively a quota system in play and not anything that exists socially?
The argument that it’s not discrimination and is used to check and determine employment of a specific race does not hold water.
Can an employer ask about an applicant’s race on an application form?
Employers may legitimately need information about their employees or applicants’ race for affirmative action purposes and/or to track applicant flow.
One way to obtain racial information and simultaneously guard against discriminatory selection is for employers to use separate forms or otherwise keep the information about an applicant’s race separate from the application.
That way, the employer can capture the information it needs but ensure that it is not used in the selection decision.
Unless the information is for such a legitimate purpose, pre-employment questions about race can suggest that race will be used as a basis for making selection decisions.
If the information is used in the selection decision and members of particular racial groups are excluded from employment, the inquiries can constitute evidence of discrimination.
Another thought suggests that the main reason behind the race/ethnicity question in job applications is to make sure that employers add race and ethnicity diversity to the workplace.
But as we all know it’s so easy for any racist manager to use the race/ethnicity job application to deny the opportunity for someone to have a job interview. Let’s open our eyes to reality since that does happen.
People simply do not understand the world around them. So next time someone asks you, “Are you Malaysian?”, don’t retort, ‘how dare you!’. Just say: “Yes, what gave it away?”
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
