Tuesday May 14, 2013

‘Colour blind’ Malaysians ready to accept fellow citizens

KUALA LUMPUR: Courier service employee Raman Subramaniam takes comfort in the knowledge that there are other “colour blind” Malaysians who readily accept their fellow citizens.

“I understand that racism can lead to serious problems, which could affect everyone in this multi-racial country,” he said.

Raman, 30, was therefore delighted when volunteers from civil society groups handed him a yellow flower as a symbol of peace and harmony during a celebration in Little India, Brickfields yesterday.

“I have no personal recollection of the racial riots that happened 44 years ago, but stories from my elders have taught me to appreciate the unity we have now,” he added.

Malaysian Indian Progressive Association president A. Rajaretinam, who was part of the organising committee, said the event was also meant to dispel the tension in the aftermath of the general election.

Housewife Sureddy Soumya, 29, expressed her support for the event, saying that racism “has no place in our society”.

“A Malaysia in which people do not play the race card is the ideal place to raise my daughter,” she said.

Meanwhile, Communications and Media Management student Sung Kye Ling, 19, said she did not notice the date until she was told about it.

“I think it’s good because this means that we’ve moved on from it,” she said.

Apartment manager Sazali Othman, 61, said he remembered reading about the race riots when he was young.

“It was so different from the country I knew. I had Chinese and Indian friends and we never thought anything of each other’s race. That was an incident not worth remembering,” said Sazali, who is a retired army man.

Police officer Sgt Minder Singh said he was glad that the date had passed by without any incident.

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