Break out of ethnic silos

ONCE again, a member of one ethnic community has used an ethnic slur against someone of another ethnic community. What is perhaps different this time is the widespread condemnation, especially on social media, of the man who uttered the slur from within his own community and the praises showered upon his target. This could be because his target, a medical doctor, was actually trying to help the man injured in a road accident when he resorted to that derogatory epithet. In spite of his insult to her ethnicity, she remained by his side until medical assistance arrived. It is her deep sense of duty and her magnanimity that impressed a lot of people.

But Malaysians have to go beyond condemnation and praise. It is important to understand why ethnic slurs, negative ethnic stereotypes and ethnic misconceptions are so pervasive in our society. It is true of course that there is perhaps no community on earth where negative perceptions of “the other” do not exist. In some places, they have hardened into deep-seated prejudices transmitted from generation to generation.