Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Malaysia RACIAL MELTING POT Cracking After 50 Years; Deep Rooted Racism, Discrimination & Bigotry Under Unity & Peace Facade; People Living Separately

Thursday March 29, 2007
Survey: Many youngsters aren't concerned about racial integration
By SIMRIT KAUR; STAR

PETALING JAYA: Racial integration among the younger generation in Malaysia still has some way to go, judging by the results of a nationwide survey of 4,400 Form Four students. Only 52% of the teenagers said they had a friend of a different race. In fact, mixing with other races was not something that concerned many of the respondents. Only 12.8% felt that it was an issue, while 63.9% were more worried about contracting a disease. The Cognitive and PsychoSocial Profile of Malaysian Adolescents (CoPs) study was carried out in August by a group of academics from the Education Faculty of Universiti Malaya (UM).

Prof John Arul Phillips, a former UM academic and current dean of the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty at Open University Malaysia, said this was the most complete study of its kind because of the large sampling. “We went to 44 schools in rural areas, towns and cities across Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak,” he said. A total of 16.6% of the 16-year-olds surveyed also admitted to smoking. They cited emotional pressure (27.6%), a desire to be accepted by friends (25.5%) and wanting to be cool and macho (20.1%) as the most common reasons for taking up the habit. Another 12.6% said they were influenced by the mass media.

Other findings include:
# 8.8% reported using drugs;
# 10.7% never eat breakfast;
# 8% have never used a computer; and
# 3% said they were often not interested in studies.

The study also compared different groups of students. There was no major difference in resilience and self-esteem levels between males and females, but non-smokers were found to be more resilient and had higher self-esteem. In addition, males reported better relationships with their teachers compared with females. CoPs project leader Assoc Prof Dr Fatimah Hashim from UM’s Education Faculty said: “There was very low correlation between academic performance in PMR and psycho-social attributes such as self-esteem, resiliency and family bonding.” In the area of general knowledge, only 23.3% of respondents identified Lee Hsien Loong as the Prime Minister of Singapore and 43.3% knew that Bill Gates founded Microsoft. However, 81% knew that Manchester United was an English football club. Students were poor in civic knowledge, too. For example, only 58.4% knew that Parliament consisted of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara.
= = == = == = =

Malaysia is just about to be 5o years old and it is too much to expect the major racial components be close to each other in such a short time. From the Christian era we have heard the term “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). It was an ironic statement, for in that society no man loved his neighbor, but distrusted him heartily.

In terms of time evolution, mankind had come to the point where it delighted so in distinctions and differences amongst the different races, those even in small geographical areas - multitudinous groups, cults and nationalities were assembled, each proudly asserting its own individuality and worth over others. In the beginning in those terms, man’s emerging consciousness needed the freedom to disperse itself, to become different, to originate bases for various characteristics and assert individuations and hence the evolution of various races within the human species.

You must realize that your present race is the one into which you were born, in your terms in this place and time. But most of you cannot recall and remember each of you have been members of different races and so each of you have shared in both the advantages and ignominies attached, in historic terms, to such conditions of birth. But alas short is your memory and long is your pain and you have forgotten your many accents and have to be relearned them. Those who remembered are few and can find no identity as a race but as a human species. You are a cooperative species and a loving one.

Your misunderstandings and your distrusts in each other real as they are seldom committed out of any intent to be evil, but because of severe misinterpretations about the nature of good, and the means that can be taken towards its actualization. Many of these will be directly or indirectly connected with old myths and beliefs of your forefathers
= == = = == = = =

Hayati Bte Husin (A128621) Set 25 Mon&Wed 4.00-6.00
Nowadays either younger generation or teenagers in Malaysia, they are not corncerned about racial intergration. This is maybe because of the environment where they live and also the school. In UKM there have a lot of students that came from different race. There are many ways to close the relationship between them. In UKM there have a lot of activities that can increase the racial intergration between student either Malay,Indian,Chinese and others.For instant,Lantern Festival, in other word festival of light.This festival were celebrated by Chinese but any other race may join them.The other race of student also can join to hold the lantern.This is one of the example activity that related to cultural in UKM.
For academic,UKM has a subject called Ethnic Relation where student learned about many race and thier culture. Student also can learned about their history,food,traditional attire and others.
For rasidential college there are a few activities that can build the relationship between any race of student such as English Speaking Zon.It involved all of the student from any race.This activity need student to communicate with each other. So it can create bonding between the student from any race.

Mon & wed ( 4-6)pm...set 25

Activity of youngster racial intrgration

Move to promote racial unity

IPOH: Selected students in national, Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools in Tambun will undergo a student exchange programme to promote racial integration.

Tambun MP Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the programme by Tambun Umno was to enable each of the three main communities to “mingle and mix” from young.

“It is unfortunate that each race always stick with their own,” Ahmad Husni, who is the Deputy Finance Minister, said during a cheque-presentation ceremony to 27 national schools in Taman Meru near here yesterday.

“Each race has its own strengths and the students will learn the best traits from each culture,” he said.

He said that if the Tambun project was successful, he would propose it for nationwide implementation.

Ahmad Husni said a manual would also be launched with the programme to provide parents with guidelines on ways to better interact with their children.

Perak ruler: Respect racial unity

2009/06/12

By M. Husairy Othmanhusairy@nst.com.my

IPOH: The country's leaders have a political responsibility to respect and honour the founding principles of national independence and harmony among the races, the sultan of Perak said.

Sultan Azlan Shah said the principles, which were agreed on in the drafting of the Constitution, should not be questioned to maintain peace and stability in the country.

"To deviate from what was agreed would lead to uneasiness and distress, putting the country in a state of uncertainty.

"At the same time, these principles should not be abused, leading to certain races feeling oppressed," he said in his speech at the launching of a religious discourse organised by the Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) and the state government here yesterday.

Present were the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.

Sultan Azlan Shah also said the king and Malay rulers were responsible for protecting the legitimate interests of the races.

"Practices which deviate from the principles of fairness should not be condoned as each Malaysian citizen should be accorded justice."

He, however, said the free economy or laissez-faire system had created an imbalance between the high- and low-income groups.

"A policy to address this must be implemented to provide the poor and those from the low-income group with the opportunity to gain knowledge and secure places in institutes of higher learning."

Sultan Azlan Shah said because Malays and ethnic groups in Sabah and Sarawak were lagging behind other races, the king had been provided special powers under Article 153(2) of the Federal Constitution.

"This is to protect their interests in terms of securing scholarships and places in institutions of higher learning. The same powers are accorded to Perak rulers under Article 27B(2) of the Perak constitution.

"This was agreed on in a spirit of give and take and mutual understanding while the country's independence was being discussed."

Any move to dispute the above not only went against the basis of the Federal and state constitutions but also the sovereignty of the king and Malay rulers, he said.

Minister: Focus on racial integration

By Izatun Shari

newsdesk@thestar.com.my

ACTIVITIES to enhance racial integration must be given priority at all Komuniti Bestari in the urban areas, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique said.

He said Komuniti Bestari (a project under the Information Ministry) must reflect the participation of all races although different areas had different racial compositions.

“In some areas, there is a higher percentage of Chinese residents, but there are areas where the Indians or Malays make up the majority.

“The chairmen of Komuniti Bestari appointed at the grassroots level must help to enhance racial integration at their respective Komuniti Bestari,” he told reporters after closing the Komuniti Bestari convention at the Federal Territory level in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

Zulhasnan, who is also Federal Territory Kuala Lumpur Komuniti Bestari chairman, said Komuniti Bestari needed to be reorganised to inculcate the spirit of patriotism among the multi-racial community.

He said his ministry and the Information Ministry would also discuss the proper concept of Komuniti Bestari to suit the needs of the urban community.

“We will also get the cooperation of the Information Ministry to increase the allocation for Komuniti Bestari and assess its effectiveness,” he said, adding that currently, each Komuniti Bestari received RM4,500 yearly to carry out its programmes.

He said another six Komuniti Bestari would be formed in Labuan, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur next year.

Also present were his deputy Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop, Information Ministry parliamentary secretary Noriah Kasnon and Information Department deputy director of the communications and community development division Shaari Idris.

To date, there are 457 Komuniti Bestari nationwide including 17 in Kuala Lumpur and one in Putrajaya.

National schools must reflect racial diversity

Dr Chris Anthony Apr 13, 07 1:57pm

Last week, a national daily carried a report on a study involving Malaysian teens on a very important issue - racial integration. It is not surprising that the survey concluded that many youngsters weren’t concerned about racial integration. However, it was also surprising that 10.7% never ate breakfast and 8% had never used a computer. These figures are something for our leaders to think about as we are just more than a decade away from achieving our vision of a developed nation. There is no doubt that our education system, as it is now, is the main cause of racial segregation. Instead of dumping the children of the various races together from a very young age, we have actually separated them into separate classes to facilitate religious instruction. Subsequently, as though this was not enough, we further segregated them into vernacular schools. There is hardly any contact among the various races from a very early age. If this does not breed racial segregation then what does? It is easy to blame the vernacular schools for the failure of national schools to integrate the various races. We must go a step further to find out why many parents opted for vernacular schools in the first place. The reason is obvious and does not need a genius to detect - the unsatisfactory environment that is prevalent in national schools. Our national schools have, in fact, taken a more religious stance - too much for the comfort of the non-Malays. Having sent all my children to national schools, I can say for sure we are left with no option but vernacular schools. I am sure if our national schools reflected the ethnic diversity of the nation among the students and teachers, most parents would prefer to send their children to these schools as it was in the 60s and 70s. The unhealthy environment in our national schools led to the recent call by the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah, for a more balanced racial composition of school leaders, teachers and students that would reflect the multi-racial composition of the nation. I would also like to echo the recent statement by our Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Onn: ‘Schools should have a conducive and balanced environment and the ministry must have the political will to handle this well and not make it a racial issue’. We all know the problem and the solutions but do we have the political will to implement them? Our children in schools are segregated and they are happy to just interact with those from their own communities. As children and teenagers, they do not see the need to interact with others until they come out to work in a very competitive world. Racial integration and unity should be valued as national assets and the young must be taught treasure and cherish them from an early age

Symbol of Commitment

You may have noticed in the last month or more that many nationally-recognised local companies have introduced into their advertising campaigns a logo very similar to the 1Malaysia logo, which you can see on my website. This is a conscientious and voluntary effort by many GLCs and local companies to show their support for the 1Malaysia concept and the principle behind "People First, Performance Now". While the logo represents the expectations and call for a united Malaysia based on its principles, I have also communicated that this logo goes beyond a concept but is demonstrated through a 'People First, Performance Now' touchpoints campaign. The number '1' can represent various meanings; being the best, at the top, time commitments and uniqueness, among others