ok.

For the longest time i've refused (the temptation) to write on matters concerning religion, race, nationality or skin colour (saying tt my mum is fair is not counted).

these 4 subjects are ohhhh so touchy touchy to me. even more so than sexual preferences (by that i mean straight, bent, wispy, or gay).

ANYhoo, today, against my better judgement, im gonna let my guard down and express my opinions abt certain issues that have been hot on evryone's lips these past few months.

think of this as a 4 part miniseries. a journey of discovery. (yes i watch too much tv)

But before i do anything, i'd like to emphasize that wtv im going to say is based on my very utmost humble opinion. Therefore, i urge u, fellow gracious netizens, to be objective in hearing my point of view before u start to diss me(and then some)..

*deep breath before the plunge*

here goes nothing..

First order of business,

RACE.

i read an article in yesterday's paper regarding racial harmony here in this tiny green dot. yea. racial HARMONY. not just racial TOLERANCE.

i tink there's a big difference between the 2. racial harmony implies a sense of one-ness; where ppl understand each other and use that understanding to forge closer relationships. when i think of harmony, i think of amalgamation. Its like swirling the 3 primary colours together (in this case 4, if u catch my drift) til finally, all u see is pure white. damn. i give KILLA metaphors.

On the other hand, racial tolerance is when u live next to each other just because of the HDB quota and you have no idea why your indian neighbour rings a bell every morning/evening, why your chinese neighbour has to burn joss sticks, why ur malay neighbour tries to stay clear of your dog and why ur eurasian neighbour cant stop karaoke-ing. (haha. tt last one was a joke. kindly laugh. thank you.)

Tolerance is fine.. but its pointless. and in the long run, its gonna hurt you and me coz we would have not understood each other in the most primal sense.

anyway, the article that i read wasnt reali abt racial harmony.. rather, it was about the lack of it. the writer asserted that ppl of our generation ( the Gen Y-ers) are not as harmonious as their generation (Gen Xers). She claimed that because of the kampong environment they grew up in, where all the kids, regardless of race played together, Gen Xers better understand the racial harmony thing.

well.. uhum.. i beg to differ.

all my life, i've had close friends who are not malay/muslims. in primary school, there was this cute chubby guy, mr eric chiam kai xiong, whom i always did projects with. sometimes, i would even go to his house to do our projects. i still remember.. he has a younger brother who was as restless as sun wu gong, and a mentally challenged older sister.. who was so happy everytime i came. he had a silly crush on me.. i still keep the bookmark he gave me on my 12th birthday.

and then of course there was my so-called god brudder, mr kelvin ng, who did most of my art projects for me (ain never was and never will be an artist). of course, in turn, i helped him with his work.. and gave him all the slack prefectorial duties during recess (ehem ehem.. ain was a head prefect.. HUARGH HUARGH HUARGH...). i still remember how he used to call me everyday to ask what homework there was. those were the days...

Moving on to secondary school.. many names. and these are my close friends only. there was, si qi, janet, nicole(the.. uhum.. "nice" eurasian girl.. *evil grin*), meera(many gd memories with) and then there was the brudders, zhi yang and weihan.. whom we shared bgr problems with (hohoho. those were the days).

in jc, there was miss joyce lee, miss veena nair, mr jay, meli & minli (of malay dance) and lots and lots of hunky hunky indian guys. especially Mr K of course. ooooh.... HOTNESS. (i heard he's serving in the air force now).

and of course, now in uni, my closest confidante, the minah herself, miss inez "thetaitai" xun yi. budden i knew her since sec 1 lah. FLOWERPECKER PATROL \/ (~,~) \/YEAH! (ain was a girl guide in secondary school... HUARGH HUARGH HUARGH). oh ya. now that im in uni, i also get to meet ppl from other countries like Yue Nan ren, Yinni ren.. etc.

So... after telling the story of my life... u ask..

WAT IS THE FREAKIN POINT?!!

hee2.

my point is, altho i didnt grow up in a kampong, i am still smack in the middle of a cosmopolitan society. there is no way i could turn right or left without bumping into someone of another race. and im happy for that. i cant begin to imagine wat life would be like if everyone around me was of the same creed. i'd probably be xenophobic (like my neighbours in malaysia). i am thankful and happy that i get to learn so much about ppl of other races and culture and i actuali make the effort to assimilate myself into the society.

so i guess wat im trying to say is, as a Gen Yer, i totally disagree that we are any less racially harmonious compared to the Gen Xers. but tt does not mean im not an age-ist. u old fogeys. HUARGH HUARGH HUARGH.

last but not least, i'd like to wish all my chinese friends a belated HAPPY NEW YEAR! GONG XI FA CAI! KONG HEY FATT CHOY! KIONG HEE HUAT TZAI! CUNG HI PHAT TAI! and to all my muslim friends, selamat menyambut dzikril hijrah!