On Being A Malaysian

Welcome and thanks for stopping by.  For those of you who do not know anything about me, here it goes. Born into a mixed parentage, I grew up in a family where Chinese, Indians, Malays and Eurasians lived together in perfect harmony. English as our mother tongue, there were also bits of Portuguese thrown in here and there. If you're wondering what I really am, I'm an Indian-Eurasian married to a Malay. What are my offsprings known as? Let's see, they've got Malay, Indian, Portuguese, Irish, Siamese(my mom said there's some Siamese blood along the line) and probably some other mixtures that I may not really know.

Very recently, I was called a 'racist'. In his same breath he called the Malaysian government a 'racist' too. If there's anything that I'm far away from, it's the word called 'Racist'. When a person like me who comes from a multi-racial background, it's impossible for this 'racism' thing to be instilled in my soul. We celebrate Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and Hari Raya. Yes all those 4 festivals are celebrated in my family. Did I mention that I'm a Muslim? Yes, even as I sit typing this article, my kids are in my parents place enjoying putting up the Christmas tree and decorations for Christmas. No signs of racism or religious intolerance going on there.

We go to my parent's place every Chinese New Year for a reunion dinner, and heck, there are no traces of Chinese blood in neither my Mum or Dad. Why are we doing this? Because we are MALAYSIANS and belong to a family where there are The De Silvas, The Jayanathans, The Tees,The Chapmans, The Howes, The Pintos, The Samads, The Wongs, The Maniams,The Mentos, The Benedicts, The Barbers, The Chows  and us, The Affandeys and we enjoy sharing each others cultures and beliefs.

I fondly remember my late grandmother being thrilled to bits when it was announced many years ago that the Portuguese-Eurasians in this country were being given the Bumiputra status. This was a blessing to my mum, my aunties and uncles as they would then be entitled to contribute to the Amanah Saham Nasional which gave out great dividens annually. That came in very handy in those struggling days.  'Racist' government? Think again!