Is there an identity crisis in some people?

Early this morning, I went into Malaysia today to read about Mingguan Malaysia columnist Dr Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah’s ‘article in which he said that ‘minorities in Malaysia should not be too brave to challenge. He boldly told those who cannot respect the special position of Islam and the Malays should return to their homeland.’ And in doing so he talked as if he is a Malay which he is certainly not for he was born Tee Chuan Seng, a Chinese with the surname ‘Tee’.

Actually, I would not have paid any attention on such an article if not for the hurt and anguish felt by my sister-in-law.

“How can that Muslim convert tell us that we have no right to Malaysia, to tell us we ought to accept being second-class citizens, that the Malays are better people than us,” she demanded. “If I ever see him, I will give him a big slap. How can he claim the Malays are better than the Chinese?”

“Now, you shouldn’t say that. After all, the chap has the right to voice his own opinions. He could have known only Malays who are always better than the Chinese. And the Chinese he knows could have proved him right. (At this point I stopped a second as I realised, the closest Chinese he knows must be his parents, siblings and relatives as well as close friends. Were they all so bad that it has caused him to form such an opinion of the Chinese? Poor Guy! How can that be?) Furthermore, you wouldn’t slap him. You’re sufficiently educated and civilized to not do such a thing,” I chided her.

“Why not?” She protested. “If he makes me mad enough, I will be able to do it,” she insisted.

I stopped there as I did not wish to aggravate her feelings further. In my mind then, I was thinking we should not stoop as low with some unnecessary act when other people want to expose the fact that they cared not for their own dignity in their contempt of their own race.

Here is a chap who writes as though he is not a Chinese, talking of the minorities as though he is not one of them. When it comes to this, it is unbelievable that schooled people cannot understand what the meaning of race is. We are all born into a race, even though the name of any race is human created. If you are a Chinese, it has to be Chinese. You cannot be an Eskimo, an Indian or a Javanese, no matter what you do, be it entering a religion, plastering the face with your favourite colours or dyeing your hair. Neither can it be done with a sex change. A Chinese is born a Chinese, period! Adopting another name does not make you more Javanese or Japanese. A Chinese may adopt a Christian name and be a Christian but he is still as Chinese as any other, his buttocks remain as Chinese. That ought to be very simple to understand.

I think I am going to advise my sister-in-law to forgive the chap for he must be a very confused person. He could have lost his roots. The poor guy finds himself neither here nor there. We ought to teach and correct such people and not condemn them, for they have suffered enough with their identity crisis. Of course, not just in Malaysia but throughout the world there must be lots more who face identity crisis. Sometimes, the cause could be religion. Well, there are so many factors.
Actually, God never meant us to be separated by such identities. God gave us the land and put us somewhere convenient the day we were born. Humans in search for power and authority divide God’s land into so many countries, giving them names. From the names of the countries, names of races are created by man in another divisive manner so as to rule with power. So you see, we are divided today because of power crazy people. And Earth is our homeland.

Talking about homeland, even if we were to follow human’s division of our homeland, we must understand that our homeland many be different from where our ancestors were. It depends upon where we are born. The place we are born in is our homeland and no other. Do not allow anyone to drive us out of our homeland. For those born in Malaysia, Malaysia is our homeland and no one has the right to usurp that right of ours.

Even God does not do that. If any human were to tell us to ship out from our own homeland, tell him that even God does not do that. Does he think he is more powerful than God? If he thinks so, he does not believe in God.