The Malay Dilemma

"I am not ashamed to admit that I cannot compete with the Chinese and Indian students when studying medicine. They had much better results than me and the other six Malay students for entry into the Medical College.

It is not shameful to lose out against them. Simply to catch up with them we need handicaps. To be given handicaps is to ensure fairness, not discrimination."

-Tun Mahathir Mohamad-

I'm sorry Tun but I just have to disagree with you on this. To have handicaps spoon-fed to you all the way will only train you to get used to being one, not to progressively move forward without it.

I give Malay supremacists as much credit as Malays who underestimate their own race.

First thing first, let me try and make this as clear as possible, screw racial background. It has almost nothing to do with one's personal achievement. Besides environment and opportunity, the other important element in the equation is the will. For example, A is a normal kid who lives in a war-torn country, where access to education is next to impossible. B on the other hand, is considered luckier as his family has managed to relocate to another stable country before the war reached its peak. Chances are, B will be more successful in terms of education compared to A even though they are from the same race. That's logical. Right?

So why would students from the same country with the same opportunity to education be treated and evaluated differently? Why, because Chinese and Indians are generally smarter than Malays? Ouch. I am not an overtly proud person in general. It is not a big deal for me to own up to my own shortcomings openly to other people. But no, I am not going to accept your statement, Tun, which implies that our race is a stupid one.

My little cousin one day announced that he did OK in his exams. Though someone in his class managed to do better. When asked why, he simply answered, "He's an Indian." Like that's a perfectly normal answer. Like being an Indian or a Chinese automatically makes them smarter. Not their hardworking habit and their will to excel in what they do. What have we hammered into the brains of our younger lot? That we are generally less competent than our Chinese and Indian counterparts so that it is okay to accept it if we always fall short behind them? Or better still, not try at all? Oh come on, give me a break.

Why are we so afraid to get rid of our training wheels? Why are just the mere talk of the possibility of finally standing on our own two feet, without the help of a crutch that has in some way hinder our advancement got us all fired up?

This is the Malay dilemma. We should cut ourselves less slack.

God helps those who help themselves, right?