You are first Roman before anything else

Many of the laws in Malaysia are very much underpinned by the idea of race. That is no secret. That’s the way how things have always been. It’s something that most of us have come to accept. Back in school, when we had to fill up administrative forms, we had to fill up categories of race and religion. We tick the boxes without questioning why we did so – it’s as natural as ticking the box indicating your gender. Coming to Australia, I realise that Australia along with most countries do not do that. In fact, it is discriminatory to categorise citizens based on race and religion.

The embedded concept of race is very much part of our colonisation history. When the British ruled Malaya (the old name of Malaysia), they imported the Chinese people to work in the tin mines and the Indians to work in the rubber plantations. The Malays had to work in the paddy fields to feed the nation. Tin mining was big business back then. Of course, the Malays wanted in but licences were not given out to Malays as they were needed to stick to working in the paddy fields. So it was from then that Malaya was categorised by race.


When the British left Malaya and Malaya gained independence, Malays were left at the bottom of the poverty line. Paddy sector did not provide much money. As we all know, special rights were then given to the Malays to minimise the economic disparity between the races.

Imagine if the nation was not segregated by race from the beginning. Imagine the concept of race never embedded our laws. What a different nation Malaysia would be today.

Side-note: In one of my law classes in first year of uni, we had a discussion on why we were categorised by our gender. Some argued that there are no two genders but a spectrum of genders such as fully male, dominant male/recessive female, half male/half female, recessive male/dominant female, fully female. To me, that was absolutely absurd: You are male because you have a penis and female because you have a vagina. Full stop. Your anatomy tells you what gender you are. Maybe I’m a little naïve but I think there are more important issues to devote your energy to. Hm, I guess if I were a transvestite that would be an important issue to me.


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Okay here are some random pictures because a certain someone (hint hint: cheryl =P) might soon complain that my blog is getting boring.

This is what I want do after my assignment



A self-portrait after my make-up day out. I think I should go for a make-up course. Professionally done make-up looks so much better.



Much better without flash



My dear Ann graduated on Sat. A combination of beauty and brains. Whoever said you gotta be ugly to be smart.



Ann with her gorgeous sisters plus cousin.



Here is what i miss doing - by that I mean driving rather than posing.



Jus, Tim, Cheryl and I went to watch a play based on the book 'The importance of being earnest'. It was produced by our friend, Eugene. It was so professionally done. The amazing part is that everyone involved are volunteers and some are not even from an acting background. Two thumbs up for that.



I heart my point and shoot camera. It takes good shots.



I miss Cheryl. She is now back in Malaysia from her 3 month stay in Hong Kong. I told Cheryl that I feel closer to her now although technically, it really doesnt make a difference whether she is in HK or Malaysia. Its the same time zone.




We always forget to take pictures when we go out. We only remember when we are in the car, driving to a destination. Hence the multiple car shots.



Here's why I miss her. Who else would take such silly shots with me.