Thoughts on Ethnic Relations and the Victorian Influence

"Mathematics effectively began when a few Greek friends got together to talk about numbers and lines and angles... The little knots of Friends who turn their backs on the 'World' are those who really transform it. Egyptian and Babylonian Mathematics were practical and social, pursued in the service of Agriculture and Magic. But the free Greek Mathematics, pursued by Friends as a leisure occupation, have mattered to us more."

~ C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves


I read the entire Hubungan Etnik book today. I must say it comes very close to the Pengajian Am textbook in terms of dullness and pointlessness.

As I read through it, I kept wondering why the government harps on the same issues over and over again. One of the things we learn in this module is not to stereotype others, yet that is precisely what the text does. Again and again it pegs Indians as rubber-tappers and Malays as farmers and Chinese as miners and trade giants.

Thing is, Malaysia has come a good way from the pre-Independence days. Yes there are farmers and rubber-tappers and miners but the thing is, today's youth (i.e. people like us) must be challenged to go beyond stereotype.

What's the point of telling a child to explore the sea if all the instruction you will ever give him is on how to live on land?


I am more thankful than ever for the years I spent in the Victoria Institution. There was more integration (racially and socially) there than in the University of Malaya where I am now.

And the irony is, while there are so many 'integration' efforts going on in the UM (including the Hubungan Etnik module) according to government policy etc, the VI has a better track record of integration despite being a legacy of the supposedly evil (according to the text) British colonial era.

The Hubungan Etnik book sings the praises of our government and openly shames the Western nations for all sorts of bad influence... and yet, a 'Western' school exhibits more racial integration than a government-controlled university. Something's not quite right here!


On page 137 of the book, editor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin writes:

"...keterasingan pada peringkat sekolah rendah dan kerenggangan pada peringkat sekolah menengah serta institusi pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA)/institut pengajian tinggi swasta (IPTS) masih wujud."

Consider the quote at the beginning of this entry: those who turn their backs on the world are those who truly transform it.

I think that is the difference. If we keep talking about ethnic relations and unity, we shall never achieve it. We need to set our eyes on something we can share. In the VI, there is the common history and the common Victorian spirit. No one ever talks about integration or unity or ethnic relations in the VI, and yet Victorians carry the name of the school with pride wherever they go.

Malay, Chinese, Indian, Chindian... Victorian! And again I say, Victorian!


One challenge I face is in living as a Victorian in university: how do I, brought up in an environment so different from the 'rest of Malaysia' live this difference where I am now?

I think it is a common thread we all share. I am certain that none of us can ignore the mark the VI has left on us, and I think it is also quite obvious that there is a difference between people groomed by schools with tradition and history, and those who have never experienced such a thing.

I believe there is much good I can do, much good we can do, for this country. And truly it lies, at least in part, in turning our backs on the rest of society (Victorians are, after all, rebels!) and pursuing the things that really matter.