Since there’s (some) traction on my bg, let me tell you another side of the story. My mom’s a Tamil teacher in a secular high school with majority B40 Indian students. I’ve never given much thought to why I didn’t just attend her school-

because that would’ve saved her so much time everyday to drop me off and fetch me from my high school at central Ipoh city. But honestly there was no reason to ask this because her school was at Buntong and everyone knew what this meant - Indian gangsters.

Students from her school rarely “made it”. Under-resourced, high disciplinary problems, criminal offence cases and dropout rates. Everyone knew these kids were preyed on by gangs (and who were funding them). It’s always the individual choice of the kid or a family issue we blame.

Would I be where I am today had I attended her school? Most definitely not. What allowed my parents to find me an alternative? Our socioeconomic bg. Do you think everyone affords this privilege? No, these kids have their paths blocked by the circumstances of their birth.

If you think the system’s not broken, think again. My mom has been teaching “remotely” since lockdown and many of her students haven’t showed up since March. She assumes they’re busy working & compensating for their parent’s lost jobs, putting food on the table for their family

This is just one group of students we've let down. In other parts, esp urban poor & rural areas, same things are happening. So this really isn't about competing about who has it worse. But at the same time we should never shoot down someone who speaks about their own community.

A perfectly just world is very hard to achieve, I agree. But one way to achieve equality is to fight obvious inequalities around us. We can start by listening to what other people have to say, take their POVs into account, don't take their cause as an attack on you personally.

I agree Malaysia is a beautiful, multicultural country. And the national pie is large enough for all of us to enjoy. But denying disparities that exist because of our unacknowledged past and the issues it further perpetuates will get us nowhere.

Ibram Kendi says the heartbeat of racism is denial and the only way to be against it is by confession. I think this extends to other problems we're seeing now too & silencing the people who speak about it is anything but acknowledgement.

Here's a good article to put into context some issues that have been circulating & it also gives some context to my thread. https://fountainink.in/essay/malaysia039s-indian-gangsters