POINT: Like us, my circle of friends enjoy a good and hearty meal three times a day – but does that mean world hunger is not an issue?
I live in a three-room apartment in Petaling Jaya. My kids and I have our own rooms. We have a cosy family room, the kitchen is quite spacious and the balcony offers a great view of the surrounding neighbourhood.
POINT: Like us, my family and my friends have our own place to call home – but does that mean everyone else has roofs over their heads in this country?
I love trees and my neighbourhood is blessed with plenty of big trees that provide me, my family and my neighbours with much-needed shade. Some four hundred kilometres up north, my parents, who live in a rural area, are equally blessed.
POINT: Just because we see greenery around us – does it mean our forests are well protected?
I have many awesome Malay friends. They are not racist, they do not discriminate and they reject special privileges given to them. They believe Malays are “Pendatang” just like the other minority races in our country.
POINT: Just because my circle of Malay friends believe in equality, does it mean there are no Malays in our country who don’t enjoy their special privileges?
I have many Tamil friends (yes, those whose ancestors are from South India) and almost all of them are professionals. M Radhika is Vice-President of a financial institution, G Shanmugam is a corporate lawyer, S Balakrishnan is a commercial director and K Mogana is a doctor – just to cite a few.
POINT: Like them, most Tamils I am acquainted with are accomplished and successful professionals. But does that mean there are no school dropouts, alcoholics, drug addicts and criminals among the Indian community?
Get my point?
Similarly, if you have not heard stories of Indians discriminating against other dark-skinned Indians – does it necessarily mean such a thing does not exist in our society?
Perhaps it is not fair to expect those who live in glass castles and ivory towers, enjoying a life full of privileges, to understand what goes on under their noses. Maklumlah, sometimes living a privileged life can cause temporary blindness.
Clearly it is not their fault, for they lack the necessary insight to see the truth and are somewhat disconnected from the real people who make up our society.
Likewise, it is wrong to blatantly accuse those who cite incidents from personal experience or relate stories shared by the very people who’ve experienced it, of generalising or making a mountain out of a molehill, simply because those incidences have not been exposed before.
Truth is, just like world hunger, homelessness, deforestation, racism and social ills among the Indian community including discrimination against dark skinned Indians by non-Indians and Indians alike is real and present in our country. And anyone who claims it is a theory based on fictitious thinking, anecdotes, limited personal experiences or wild imaginings which have no bearing on the future of Indians in the country, should get off their high horse and get in touch with reality.
FA’S NOTE: When a leader appointed to champion the agenda of the Indian community not only fails to recognise the problems associated with Indians, but even worse, blatantly denies the existence of such a problem – it clearly reflects the sad state of the Indians in our country.
With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.