Racism: Mere insult, or is it illegal?
By LIM MAY ZHEE
The other day as I sat for my Moral exam, a question regarding the boundaries attached to the freedom of speech got me thinking.
Implicitly proving that nothing comes free in this world, here are some of the restrictions which come with freedom of speech in Malaysia:
- - Never criticise the government
- - Never raise sensitive and racist issues
- - Never say things that will provoke fights
Racism never ceases to amaze me. It can induce something as minor as a one-on-one wrestling match, or even the crumbling of a dominant nation.
But before you put a blogger’s hands in cuffs for piquing a certain race, think about why racism is such a big deal in the first place.
That would be because we made it a big deal.
Truth be told, everybody is a racist at heart. Just because you impede us from vocalising it doesn’t stop our heads from having that kind of mindset.
“Rape case again. Surely a [insert race here] is involved!�
Imagine if uttering statements like these in public was not deemed provocative by the government, and instead treated as just another insult. It might, at worse, have sparked a small-scaled flame war in forums, but would ultimately be just another insult.
A few other examples would be the perception of sex as dirty, of thinness as the epitome of beauty, and how Asian women perceive fair, porcelain skin as perfection.
- - We see how prudish people nowadays talk about sex in such a way that implies God should not have invented it. But if a child is raised liberated from society’s apprehension towards sex, would that child see sex as an obscene activity?
- - At present, how closely a girl resembles a stick is used as a common evaluation point for attractiveness. Girls are influenced by the figures strutting on runways, and the faces and bodies plastered on newspapers and magazines, and their minds and eyes are tricked into believing that thin equals beautiful.
- - Chanel concocts whitening miracles in a bottle for Asian women, while bronzers and self-tanners are formulated for Caucasian women. Since Asians grow up in an environment where a fair complexion is worshipped, they shield their skin from the unrectifiable sun-induced darkening.
Our eyes and brain can easily be deceived.
When we apply this to more consequential things like racism, we realise that silencing us will not keep our thoughts at bay. Conversely, it might just make us more truculent.
Because we have been moulded into individuals who denounce racism, it is no longer our choice. Things would just be fine if society and the government did not take racism so seriously from the very start.
Racist slurs are just as bad as any other derogatory remarks about one’s family, career and life, so why should it receive special treatment? Doing that just invites trouble.
Racism is offensive, yes, but should it really be lawfully wrong?
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LIM MAY ZHEE is a spunky 15-year-old published author who is trying to be cool by not describing herself like the rest of theCICAK team but is not succeeding. Visit her site.
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