This is what I get asked more than anything!

I guess I don’t fit into any category of Chinese, Indian or Malay so the most common question I get asked is what race I am or whether I’m mixed.

I don’t take any offence to it because it comes up all the time but it’s not always asked with the right grammar. For eg, I was at the bank and the person serving me asked out of curiousity,

“Excuse me miss, what are you?” So I said female and then she says, “no, la what I mean is, you are mixed is it?”

I don’t feel I suffer any racism in Malaysia and I’m grateful. Questions about my race are more often than not sheer curiosity and due to the fact people like pigeon holing people into however they categorise the world we live in.

I think it’s sad when race gets in the way of our work and relationships. Then, it becomes a thing which divides us. We should be proud of our different backgrounds. This is what makes Malaysia so diverse and fascinating. If we celebrated our differences, then maybe we could come closer to the slogan we seem to see being advertising everywhere (you know the one!

Happy Merdeka all!
Jojo Struys
Live The Moment
W:www.kyanite.tv W:www.jojostruys.com

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