Blogging Against Abuse - Racial Abuse

It’s wonderful living in a country like Singapore. The 3 main races we have are the Chinese, Malay and the Indians. There are also the Eurasians like myself. We’re often labeled as the ‘OTHERS’ when it comes to applications forms. In recent time, I’ve seen the race Eurasian in a couple of forms which means we’re finally being recognized. I love the food here in Singapore. When you have a bunch of races in a country, the food has to be good! I love the occasional mee rebus, hokkien prawn noodles and my favourite mee goreng.

Two days ago, I posted an article from Channel News Asia. The post entitled ‘Two racist blogs taken offline’ was placed 6th on Ping.Sg ‘most popular in the last 24 hours’. It’s the sad truth that racism does exist in our country. It’ll be unfair to assume that many think like that blogger. I’ll put it as a handful of morons with views that don’t mean squat to anyone.

I’ve got friends of every race. When I say friends, I do not mean the Hi and Bye kind. These are true friends that I’ve grown to count on in times of need. Sure we’ve had some bad times. Which friendship doesn’t?

There will be some bad hats in every race. If we’re gonna use that to label a race, every race would be deemed bad. My advice would be to forget the bad ones and to look at the good ones. It’s these good ones who are trying to make a difference for themselves and their families.

Soccer has seen its fair share of racism too. December 2005 saw Ivory Coast defender Marc Zoro threaten to walk off the field after fans of his team's opponents, Inter Milan, repeatedly hurled racial epithets at him. It was in the 66th minute of his team's match against Inter Milan, when he picked up the ball, planning to hand it to the fourth referee official as he walked off the pitch. Inter Milan stars Adriano, a Brazilian, and Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins, intervened. They pleaded with their fans to stop and convinced Zoro, who was in tears, to continue playing.

The message I’m trying to put across here is we should all remain united. Let’s respect each other’s cultures. The day when you start respecting a person, your perception of life will change. Let’s try to understand why certain things are done the way it is. Let’s put an end to racism today!