This was a comment posted yesterday in response to the piece on bigotry in Malaysia. It’s a humorous take, with a sting, on the lot of the Indian community.
By S. Narayanan
![Malaysian schoolchildren [File photo]](https://uppercaise.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/malaysian_indian_pupils1.png?w=584)
I consider myself a patriotic Malaysian who loves the country. I used to stand up for the National Anthem (even when it sounded on TV!) during my school days. I volunteered to join the army medical corps as an army doctor serving in the jungles of Sabah and Sarawak.
Malays who came from Indonesia and Thailand, relatively recently, have become bumiputeras (sons of the soil) with special privileges. It’s OK.
Malays say they are a superior race with superior religion. It’s OK.
The Malays say “leave the country if you don’t like the government”. It’s OK. I am not leaving.
The Malays say their ancestors defeated the Chola and Paandya Empires and chased them out of the Malay peninsula. It’s OK. I wasn’t born then.
A Malay will serve beef when I go for a gathering (taboo to us Hindus), but I cannot serve pork in the presence of a Malay – it will become a national issue. It’s OK. I respect their religion.
The Chinese have higher rates for goods and lower qualities of products for us Indians compared to their fellow Chinese. It’s OK. There are not many Indian businesses anyway.
My so-called Chinese friends refuse to sell properties to me even if I am willing to pay a higher value because I am Indian. It’s OK. I cannot force them anyway.
When my family enters a swimming pool, most of the Chinese (esp. the less educated) will scramble out of the pool – and I am not bad looking. It’s OK. We can have the pool to ourselves.
When my friends have a problem with school work, the Chinese ‘friends’ will claim they are clueless, but will gladly explain in detail to another Chinese. It’s OK. They have been brought up that way.
When a Malay of Indian makes a mistake the Chinese will ‘jump’ on them, but when a fellow Chinese makes a mistake, it’s Ok. It’s OK.
When an Indian comes up in life the first person to try to bring him down will be an Indian!. It’s OK. We are brought up that way.
We Indians are indeed a very tolerant lot! It’s not OK.
![Malaysian students [File photo]](https://uppercaise.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/malaysian_indian_students1.png?w=584)
uppercaise 
Mr ok. Your great grandfather made a huge mistake.He should have fucked a few kampong malays just as what mahathir;s grand father did then everything will be more than ok for you.
Why can’t you except the true and fact. we have more bad Chinese than a handful of good chinese. I have in business for along time and I know a lot about chinese. you want to argue
TO all Malaysians who feel slighted/insulted by bigots, racists and the likes of Md Noor the exJudge and Zahid the Home Minister take heart that this men;s parents would curse them for their Statements just to remain relevant and thank other men and NOT Allah for the peace we have achieved through tolerance on all fronts especially inter-racial harmony and understanding!
It is not at all happening in Estates, kampungs nor towns and cities!
It is just these ninnies wanted to keep stating the obvious, that other reaces have moved leaps and bounds but they are still stuck at oratory and rhetory without they can’t even buy their families luxuries and comforts!
They are the lepers and beggars in this land of Bounty!
so for self-reliant and free from shackles citizens we can be certain proud!
No crutches no need to say Nasty words nor gutter brainless statements!
It’s a humorous take but very touching.
the sad reality of the INDIANS.
Where got like that you liar. And dont think I dunno what indians talk abt other races in estates. The rubber trees talk. Dont make shit up just to drive blog traffic. You owe me 5 minutes for reading your drivel
The world usually looks better with a sense of humour.
then u must hv been a tree whisperer. Coz u can talk to the tree’s. No wonder u don’t have a sense of humour nor be able to accept the truth. and u may nt be a ramesh after all….
have u ever lived in an estate..?
chinese don’t admit but they are as racists as the other ultras.
I agree. In short u said chinese are clanish.help only their kind.when I was govt all my bosses were them.i was always side steped and they just followed seniority. So effecient their kind ptomoted.also very good at spining tales abt how good their kind are at work.curry favour with malay bosses for gains.moral if beyyet than them they will work against by transfers to hardship locations. they sell items to others at different prices.in schools they refuse to pupils of other races.this applied to ch teachers.always read to help but not others.qiiet way to show they sre supetior.when u buy fr them its always expensive but fr others they want it cheap.just go to market see them picking fruits and veges and bargaining.shameful.when its their shop no touching or bargaining.we have lived long to know their TRAITS.INSINCERE.they only take malays as business partners. Never indians bcos govt contracts.for window dressing. Lot more tired of them
That kind of humour is NOT very OK to me.
u r true. its not humorous when it’s the fact… 100% agreeable…
These r my observations. I have eaten more salt to write my experiences.not intended to offend but lay cards on table for younger generation to know
So its ok .
That’s okay as long as you allow others to have theirs
I dont think this article is a fair expression of the “indian dillemma” in Malaysia. I understand you are giving it a humorous and slightly cynical twist to the age old conundrum of non-bumiputras in this country; and I give you credit for it.
Articles and news papers that propagate Malaysian Indians as being mostly pro-opposition and pro-secularism is not exactly helping our nation progress and develop. Someone needs to counter this thought process with a more diplomatic alternative.
We need to embrace the fact that even in India, the factions of various religious, ethnics and caste are wholly split and fragmented. Communities take decades to assimilate into each other, and some may even take centuries. Although the lofty libertarian idea of civil rights being more important that race and religion may exist in the minds of the urban Malaysian, the practical fact is that we all belong to our families and communities more than we belong to our nationalized identities.
You can say that you are Malaysian first and Indian second (or the many other variations of these) but in reality how do you measure this emotional expression? Don’t we feel more attached to the light-over-darkness sentiment of Deepavali than the post-fasting joys of Aidhiladha? You simply can’t deny that our sense of responsibilities to our cultural and religious background will still supersede our affection to those from a different culture or religion, as much as we try to close the gap. It is this very affinity that exists in every Malaysian citizen out there. So why must a Malay Muslim have any more love to Hinduism than a Malaysian Indian to Islam? We are all equals, and that includes our cross-cultural tolerance as well.
Taking this stem of thought further, dont you think the Malay Muslims in this country have sacrificed a lot to allow other communities to literally co-exist among them at every level? Why can’t we offer them the same respect and privelages that they offer us? The first thing most people would say is “they are using this privelage for corruption” ! This could be true or it could be false, but what if Malay Muslims would like to stem out corruption and inefficiency in their own way, which ultimately could lead to a win-win situation rather than the zero-sum solutions currently propagated by non-Malay Malaysian urbanites. Why do you think that right thinking Malay Muslims would allow corruption to destroy the very country they love? Your argument that they also benefit from this perceived corruption is absolutely out of touch with the realities on the ground.
Stop defending your ‘rights’ by saying that you pay taxes thus you have every ‘right’ to decide the future of every Malaysian in this country. If you think paying taxes allow you to have a perfectly clean and efficient government, and that every country should become Nordic overnight, than you are living in cloudless dreams. Taxes are not your membership fee to this elite group of people who can criticize everybody else of corruption and inefficiency. Everyone practices some form of corruption in one way or another. If the government truly becomes squeeky clean and efficient overnight, all Malaysians would be investigated, and most of them will end up in jail for at least one night for some form of transgression of law. The goal is to have a win-win situation, not a lose-lose situation.
He never said this was an analysis of anything. This was a personal view of the world. To make an appropriate rejoinder, write something funny.
A personal view does not differ far from an analysis. It’s a cynical perspective. Don’t make this any less than what Narayanan is trying to say. He made a point and you can’t ignore it.
He is trying to paint Indians as tragic victims to the Malays and Chinese using a Shakespearean approach.
A rejoinder is an answer to a reply. I’m making a comment. This is the Internet not a legal courtroom.
A personal view is subjective, from an individual standpoint, does not pretend to offer anything else. It is usually both subjective and impressionist. It is not an analysis, not matter how much you would like to call it that.
So sorry. Actually I thought this up and wrote it in 10 minutes based purely on my own and family’s experiences. No analysis whatsoever. In the end, as some have commented, I don’t consider myself a ‘victim’ – just an observer of the comedy around me. I am as tolerant as declared. From the first comment, by ‘TJ’, Mahathir was my late father’s primary/secondary school classmate – and Mahathir was VERY anti-Indian then.
There is never any need to apologise for offering a frank and honest view. Nicely done.
Sad but true. As an Indian, I can relate to many of the situations depicted.
Hahahahaha
Narayana Narayaaanaaa
Are you saying only Chinese are racist towards Indians ?? Wat about Malays?? Wat about Indians themselves among each other ??
In this world everybody is prejudice with each other…
Dont always complaint and generalize..
My brother is married to Chinese girl and all in the girls family are very good and so are we to them…
Same goes with my sister married to Iban guy and now staying in Kuching….
So buddies… grow up and stop whining about petty things…
Before complaining about others look at your own family , yourself and the community…
These drunk Indian men mostly dont give a damn about their children and beat up their wives… The men especially in the estates and those poor urban Indians, most men of the previous generation are addicted to alcohol or Samsu …and their offspring have bad attitude and involved in gangsterism…. Thats why per capita, Indians have very high crime rate…
Things which most things u mentioned above did not happen to me except the Keling calling part few times when I was young… As country progress, leave behind these negative things…
Before criticize any other races for petty things, you better start criticize the Indians themselves…
Anyway current Indian generation esp educated urban indians does not drink in the way their fathers did…
Malays with drug addiction problem, Chinese with gambling problem and indians with social problem… when do you ppl really want to take action… Do not rely on Governments….. Do support group and carry out with NGOs… Government is not your Sugar daddy
Hi Nara, i feel like you have written my life experience here! Are you my clone or something?!! I agree 100% with all that you wrote. But between the racist Malay and Chinese, personally, whom can you tolerate more and trust more in the long run? For me its always a malay…anytime.
Bro Narayanan……don’t apologise for the crap you had to go thru, that’s the first sign of defeat…….I’m an indian…..and yeah I’m not bad looking either, have a real good job and married to a white girl but Ive gone thru several instances where chinese people wont even get into the lift with me…when looking for a house to rent…as soon as they know you are indian…the house is suddenly not for rent but for sale instead…and when you offer to buy it…they will say ohh we are keeping it for our children…Im sure many of us have experianced this, I have been thru what you have written here several times in my life. Reading this was like dejavu……sad we have to put up with this….Im leaving this racist country for good in a few weeks…..I don’t think Indians have a place in Malaysia..the malays can keep their ridiculous bumi status…..the chinese can keep their asian jew ways……and the indians can keep backstabbing…….i wanna live in a country where me and kids will be treated as an equal…not judge by what background they come from or what religion they practice….stupid Malays cant even comprehend the concept of religious freedom or equality…….screw this country……
Wow! And I thought Chinese-bashing is limited to Utusan Malaysia, Perkasa, and the loony right-wing demagogues of UMNO Baru!
Thanks for sharing. Good piece for self-reflection. I think most of us are racist sometimes in “more” or “less” degree. I am Chinese and I seldom visit Malay businesses due to my prejudice. Is this racist? Yes I think so. It is just that most of the time we are not aware of it. So all anak Malaysia let us reflect upon ourselves and get to the ROOT CAUSE of our racist perception and move forward for a better Malaysia.
* we contribute mote to Tiger and Carlsberg compare to the national coffer
Narayana, you hit the nail on the head with your candid comments. With some exceptions, Malays generally are the kinder lot. God bless them. Otherwise we cannot be living here in peace, despite our declining contribution to national well being, no thanks to NEP. Even the Chinese, despite the real discriminatory behavior, they know how to talk sweet and politely. The real problem is Indian psyche which defies collective thinking and acting, even among intellectuals. This probably explains, why Mahathir, who is half Indian is anti-indian. Probably he can’t stand the back-stabbing and double-speak (which of course he is good at!).
Good observation and its funny. You should make a Malaysian comic or write a little book.