14
speak up!
Comment by K. K. Tan
THE election of Barack Obama
as the first black president of the
United States has inspired people
not just in the US but also the
world over on the issue of “looking
beyond race”. Obama has been
elected to represent not just his
own “kind” but white Americans
and other minorities such as
Hispanics and Asians as well.
Our government leaders have
welcomed president-elect Obama
as someone who is likely to be
more sympathetic to developing
countries. Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said
any citizen can be prime minister
of Malaysia while Foreign Minister
Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim added
that Obama’s victory proved that
Americans were able to look
beyond race and religious beliefs in
electing their leader.
The issue of whether a person of
any race can represent and be fair
to the interests of other races has
been a paradox in many countries
and even for mankind over the
centuries. There have been many
conflicts and wars fought on the
grounds of race and/or religion.
The problem is that the borders
of many countries today were
originally formed to represent
predominantly one racial or
religious group.
Open and even rational debates
on any race issue have tended to
be muted. Even in this so-called
modern civilised world, many
people are still governed by their
baser instincts of irrational fear and
insecurity that a person of one race
cannot be trusted to truly represent
or look after the interests of other
races. The use of race and religion
Looking beyond race
in history for politics has tended to
reinforce this prejudice till today.
The oppression of one race by
another in a systematic manner is
called racism and it was manifested
most vividly by the former
apartheid regime of South Africa.
There is a clear line between
defending the legitimate rights
and interests of one race against
aggression and oppression and
a racist party which attacks and
denies other people their legitimate
rights as human beings based
solely on their race.
The above points were some
issues I had to deal with as a
student leader in Britain. From
being a local overseas student
leader at a university in UK, I
subsequently became president of
a national overseas student body
in Britain representing the diverse
nationalities of students from Asia,
Latin America, Africa and Middle
East. In a somewhat negative and
hostile environment in Britain in
the late seventies towards overseas
students or coloured people
(including black British citizens),
uniting the overseas students for
a common cause such as against
racism and the discriminatory
tuition fees was not too difficult.
Often I had to forget that I was
a Malaysian but an overseas
student first as I had to represent
the interests of all these students.
Otherwise it would not be fair for
me to hold such a position.
The dilemma about my own
nationality and representation of
other races became more intriguing
when I was elected by the British
students to be the sabbatical
president of the students union
for a one-year term in the early
eighties. I stood my ground firmly
as a proud overseas student and
won in a landslide victory against
other British students and became
the only other overseas student
(besides the late Benazir Bhutto
from Pakistan in the late seventies) the other white representatives
I am a human being first,
everything else next. Fighting
injustices and oppression or defending “humanness”
universal rights or values should
transcend one’s race, religion or
nationality.”
to be elected president of a British Mahathir Mohamad condemned
university students’ union.
How did I reconcile my
efforts and policies to look after
the interest of a small minority
of overseas students and the
vast majority (about 95%) of
British students (who were very
demanding in their expectation of
their president to perform well)?
Simple, I reminded myself that I
was first and foremost a human
being and all the others were
also equal human beings and
I represented every one there,
including those who did not vote
for me. Our commonality as human Muslim Palestinian people since
theSun
beings was far greater than any
perceived differences due to our
racial origins.
I remember during a debate
at the “student parliament”, my
white political ally told a racially
inclined white representative: “I
will defend your right to criticise
the president for his views, policies
and performance but if you ridicule
his race or nationality, I will punch
you in your face and risk my life for
it.” He got a standing ovation from
and I felt a lump in my
throat over this incident.
This was the kind of
that I look
forward to see in our
society one day.
More recently at
home, when former
prime minister Tun Dr
Zionism and its strong influence in
the West at the 10th OIC Summit
in October 2003 (just before he
stepped down), there were many
criticisms against him for being
anti-Semitic, especially from the
Western media. Hardly anyone
came to his defence. I wrote an
article in the local press to defend
his stand and explain the history
and ideology of Zionism (which
the UN had even resolved to be
a form of racism). I highlighted
the terrible injustices against and
sufferings by the predominantly
| WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 26 2008
the creation of the state of Israel.
Mahathir wrote to me to express
his gratitude over the article, saying
that “not many have done this or
argued based on reason”. A non-
Muslim friend had questioned me
and found it hard to accept that as
a non-Muslim, I could be so strong
in my stand on what was perceived
as basically a Muslim position.
My reply was that I am a human
being first, everything else next.
Fighting injustices and oppression
or defending universal rights or
values should transcend one’s race,
religion or nationality.
In our local scenario, excessive
race-based politicking is becoming
counter-productive, self-destructive
and often plain stupid because they
undermine the collective strength
of our racial diversity and our
economic competitiveness as a
nation.
The winds of positive change
are sweeping not just the US but
the world in general, our country
included. With much greater access
to education and the freer flow
of information and knowledge,
the younger generations are also
becoming more open minded, less
gullible and smarter in looking at
various issues.
With the recent changes on
the local political landscape, our
local race-based parties, which
were created out of political
expediency during the times of our
Independence, will need to reform
or even overhaul themselves by
“looking beyond race”, otherwise
they risk becoming irrelevant.
The writer is an analyst and
management strategist based in
Kuala Lumpur. He can be contacted
at kktan22@hotmail.com.