theSun, Malaysia
November 4th, 2010
Multiculturalism can be romantically described as the beautiful colours of the batik design on a sarong, the strokes of the tjantings and how the intertwined patterns of the wax unite. I’ve also heard it described as the myriad colours of the kasut manek-manek worn with traditional outfits. It’s heart-warming to define multiculturalism through rose coloured glasses. It’s the feeling you get when you see photos of a dog and a panda playing, or a rhino and a turtle keeping each other company or a cat snuggling up under a sleeping dog’s ear.
German Chancellor Merkel had identified that multiculturalism or the concept of ‘multikulti’ in which people of different heritages would live happily together had ‘utterly failed’ in her country . There are many that didn’t agree with her statement but she was daring enough to address the issue as unpopular as it sounds. Merkel had a few suggestions, one was that immigrants needed to adapt to the host country, learn the language and the customs.
Most times, our human nature is to gravitate towards that which is familiar, this of course can pose a problem and if not addressed, countries end up having pockets of immigrants who basically imported everything from their country of origin and set up camp in the new country – refusing to integrate. It can be hard to integrate but these are the challenges of choosing to move.
In Malaysia we have some who choose not to speak Bahasa Malaysia or English while we have others who have totally integrated into the melting pot of cultures that we boast about. I have found myself frustrated many times not being able to understand conversations because I do not speak ethnic languages of other dominate races in Malaysia and I’m not the only one to echo this dissatisfaction.
Most all Malaysians are multilingual and that is a great advantage however we have to have the wisdom in our multicultural society to know that not everyone is able to understand ethnic languages. And though it is everyone’s right to speak in their mother tongue it does not help to ostracise those who do not understand it especially when a common language can be spoken in the midst of those that do not understand.
I recently spent some time in Spain. Prior to me heading there, I spent a few weeks learning Spanish so that I would be able to travel comfortably and independently without looking too lost. Also, I felt it important that I make an effort to understand Spanish instead of expecting the locals to accommodate me.
In the company of friends, I found that my beginners level Spanish could not fully comprehend the quick tongued Spanish or the complex Basque language . However, most people I met tried very hard to translate or keep me in the loop of what was being said which I appreciated very much especially since it was a huge effort on their part.
It saddened me though that in my own country, on many occasions, I have found myself lost because pockets of people end up speaking their own mother tongue not realising that there are those that do not understand. It is even more disheartening when it is deliberately spoken to exclude.
I understand the need to preserve the sanctity of one’s mother tongue and to converse in it out of respect to one’s fellow ethnic buddies. Believe me, many a time, I’ve found myself wishing I spoke a foreign language only so that I could nit-pick another or secretly tell someone the prices of goods in the store were too high. But more often than not, I wished we respected each other because I understand the frustration of constantly feeling ostracized.
So how far do we embrace our multi-ethnic-cultural-lingual inheritance? All this talk about unfair policies, unjust plans, affirmative action are serious issues heavily weighted in a multicultural society such as ours, however, simple things like being courteous might go further in making a difference to everyday life.
We already have politicians who constantly play the race card but in our own capacity we could be more cohesive by speaking the positive language of multiculturalism in our everyday lives.
Natalie believes in a multiethnic, multicultural, multilingual Malaysia. She also believes in the right of comprehension for a more unified Malaysia. Happy Deepavali.
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