Embracing diversity

A dear friend of mine recently broke up with her boyfriend of many years. It wasn't because they fell out of love or one cheated on the other or anything cliché like that. They are still very much in love but in the end, it was the strain of having to continuously defend their relationship to their friends and family that got to them. Because you see, she is a malay girl and he is a chinese boy.

It's terribly unfortunate that the love between two individuals should come under the scrutiny and criticism of people who should have no bearing on the relationship in any way at all. What goes on between the two of them should naturally be a personal and private matter, but instead you have others butting in to try and establish their versions of what is right and what is wrong.

Sustaining a relationship is hard enough for any ordinary person without having to bow down to societal pressures that tend to be arbitrary more often than not.

Race is a huge topic in both the American elections and the recently concluded Malaysian elections. A fair few of my friends believe that the results highlight that Malaysia is ready for a change, that we are ready to put behind the ethnic differences and to embrace our future as a rakyat of Malaysians.

I don't think we're anywhere ready for that, probably not in my generation. There are too many fractions, too many vested interests for it all to go away in just one General Election. Looking back, I have a number of friends who have attempted mixed relationships, all with mixed results (no pun intended). I myself was in such a relationship once, and I'm actually a product of one so I am quite well-versed in the consequences of these relationships succeeding and failing.

But on a bright note, these seem to indicate that there are changes in the mindset of my generation and this augurs well for the future. Hopefully nobody will bat an eyelid if my daughter decides that she wants to marry someone of a different race.
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On a related note, this has got to be one of the best speeches that I have heard during my lifetime, one of the few that has actually moved me. You have to respect the man for sticking to his principles and not disowning his pastor, which would have been the politically safe thing to do. Instead, he grabbed the issue by the balls and has proven to be an inspiration to not only the Americans, but citizens around the world. For the full text of his speech, click on the link above.