There Are Bad Apples But Isn T True Racist Attitude Prevalent Systemic Among Malaysian Chinese

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THIS is certainly not a new accusation and smacks of stereotyping.
The Chinese community in Malaysia is insular, tightly knit and holds a superiority complex.
This was most certainly the contention of technologist Dinesh Nair (@alphaque) on X following the fall-out of the notorious viral video where a trio of Chinese kids feed chicken bones to a homeless Indian man.
Claiming this video – alongside long-held prejudices against other communities such as not renting premises to Indians because “they smell” – is solid proof of that Malaysian Chinese are a racist lot and is reflective of prevailing attitudes within the community.
Regardless that the kids responsible for the video have apologised and claimed that the video was staged, the poster argued that this does not disguise a “prevalent and prolific attitude which views other ethnicities as subhuman or deserving derision”.
He pointed to bias in job opportunities and the aforementioned refusal to rent premises to Indians as problems that get swept under the carpet whenever the issue is raised.
It was further argued that the offending video was designed to appeal to a demographic with similar racist tendencies.

Such toxic and insular chauvinism is prevalent across the board though the poster conceded there are exceptions.
This observation led to a lively debate as evident from the 829K views, 2.9K shares and 206 comments garnered at the time of writing with some agreeing while others vehemently opposing to such sweeping generalisations.
Frank online exchanges
One who agreed with the poster claimed that the older generation of Chinese were able to disguise their racist attitudes.
However, the younger generation lacks this skill and – as the video highlighted – are thus exposed as bigots. ‘Don’t demand for equal rights when you own attitudes are racist to the core’ seems to be the message here.

Such views and attitudes are also prevalent in the business and corporate setting, claimed another commenter, as the higher management are usually dominated by the Chinese. It was also added that many Chinese social media influencers were guilty of racist vitriol.

A few lay the blame on vernacular education for creating such an insular mindset.

However, many took umbrage at the sweeping generalisation. One commenter pointed to crime statistics and asked why Indians made up a disproportionate number of convicted criminals. Would it then be fair to label all Indians as thugs and crooks?

Echoing this sentiment, one commenter claimed that racist idiots exist in every society. It was a mindset that leads to lazy stereotyping.

A few highlighted personal experiences to prove that the poster was wrong about his observations.

One commenter highlighted that the issue is not the ‘race’ but the ‘racists’ within each communal group. Urging the poster to stop generalising, it was pointed out that it is “crucial for us to be the change that we want to see”.

As unpleasant and offensive that video was, there can be no justification for making sweeping generalisations. It benefits nobody.
However, there must be tacit acknowledgement that such racist attitudes exist and concrete steps need to be taken to eliminate it once and for all. 

- focus malaysia

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