Tunku Abdul Rahmans great granddaughter speaks out against racism.

Tunku Abdul Rahmans great granddaughter Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan, 24

Both my parents are Malay. My mums heritage includes Chinese, Thai and Arab, while my dad is Minangkabau. Due to my skin colour, I am often mistaken for a chinese. Im happy that I dont have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up Are you Chinese or MalayLike, why does it matter? Before I used to answer Malay but now Im trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead.. Theres this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I dont have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that Im older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesnt define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or Ali and still be a Christian. Ive heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we dont need to be told to be united. Weve come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders. For the concept to succeed, I think the government should stop with the race politics. Its tiring, really. We grew up with application forms asking us to tick our race. We should stop painting a negative image of the other races, stop thinking about us and them and focus on we, our and Malaysians.No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, I dont feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysia is my home, and I dont feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there..

I know some baby Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. Im a fourth generation Malaysian.. If I am Bumiputra, why cant they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term. I think the main reason why we still cant achieve total unity is because of this Malay rights concept. Id rather Malay rights be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity. For my merdeka wish, Id like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.

PERKAUMAN TAK COOL SUNGGUH!

We are all one. When one is harmed, all are harmed. When one is helped, all are healed.