Survey: Malaysians miss the harmonious past

Respondents say they wish the different races could be as trusting of each other as they used to be.

VIDEO INSIDE

PETALING JAYA: If a random survey by Sisters in Islam (SIS) is anything to go by, the average Malaysian is worried over reports indicating that racial tension is on the rise.

They look towards better interaction among the different races.

SIS interviewed 30-odd Malaysians, mostly Malays, for a short video documentary. The interviews were conducted at public places in Kuala Lumpur and the video has been uploaded to SIS’s Facebook page.

Many of the respondents said they wished the races could be as friendly and trusting of each other as they were in the past.

A 32-year-old who identified herself as Yoyo said children no longer played outdoors together as they used to.

When she was a child, she said, she used to be involved with many activities with children of other races in her neighbourhood and their parents would mingle freely. “You don’t see that anymore,” she added.

She had a message for politicians: “Don’t remind us that we are divided. That’s it.”

A senior citizen who called herself Hajah Besah acknowledged that life had become easier since the days when the country was ruled by the British and occupied by the Japanese.

However, she added, she missed the camaraderie that was prevalent among neighbours of different races in pre-independent Malaysia .

“In the kampung, we lived as neighbours – Chinese, Indians, Malays. There were never any problems,” she said.

A young woman said she grew up in Melaka where most of her neighbours were Malays. They lived on good terms with the few Chinese in the neighbourhood, she added.

She said race relations were now at risk unless “the leaders themselves take the step to do something for the well-being of all races in Malaysia”. FMT