LETTER | Sticks and stones may break my bones…

LETTER | It hasn't been smooth sailing throughout our 64 years of Merdeka. Rather, we were met with many frictions and turns.

But one thing that glues us and makes us proud every time we call Malaysia our home is its diversity and how people of different backgrounds are able to accommodate our differences.

Our home Malaysia never practises assimilation because it is just not right to suppress one for the other. And this practice began since Tunku Abdul Rahman's years and when the Alliance Party started to form.

It was all the goodwill (muhibah) feeling that we had when we played at school, met at parties, helped one another, and the most Malaysian thing of all: eating together at one table.

Kopitiams, for instance, are where a myriad of cuisine are sold, from nasi lemak to char kuey teow to even nasi kandar in several kopitiams, like in my favourite city that I'm dwelling in now, Ipoh, Perak.

All have their own style of eating, though no one will ever judge you if you eat all of them using a spoon and fork. Sometimes, to keep away from the awkward situations, the uncles and aunties who bring our food will generally bring with them both the chopsticks and the spoon and fork.

That person will then ask you what you would like to use and if they are too busy, they'll just leave both of the cutleries on the table. As easy as ABC, I guess, but it didn't go well with our former prime minister.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's absurd remarks on those who are using chopsticks haven't adopted the Malaysian way of eating is way too much.

It doesn't only disdain the Chinese Malaysian community but instead, all Bangsa Malaysia who proudly swear allegiance to Malaysia and also use chopsticks on a daily basis when the situation permits – Chinese and, might be a surprise for you Tun but, non-Chinese as well.

What do you mean by a Malaysian way of eating?

We didn't do it for merits or, in your case, to fish for votes. We also didn't do it only to toss the yee sang during Chinese New Year and look at people who use chopsticks in a condescending way weeks after the Chap Goh Meh.

And revisiting your comment on chopsticks, what do you mean by a Malaysian way of eating? Does there really a way to eat that looks incredulously Malaysian than the other?

Even if you want to recognise eating with hands as a Malaysian way of eating, is it suitable to implement the same thing when we're eating our Maggi mee or hotpot? Do you even use your hand when eating sushi to prove that you're a true-blue Malaysian?

If you feel that those who are using chopsticks are not eligible to be called Malaysians, with all due respect, do try it yourself (which you have openly tried before) and see if you'll be transformed into a Chinese national.

That's why there is a Malay idiom which, roughly translated, means that you won't be in love with something if you haven't got to know it well enough (tak kenal maka tak cinta).

As we're ushering in the year 2022, I really hope that Malaysians will eradicate all these misunderstandings and stand up for what it's right.

We as Malaysians should embrace and celebrate our differences and not force a culture to be practised by others.

Let it be our 2022 resolution and hang it tight our hearts for the years to come. Using the words of the Sin Chew Daily's editor-in-chief made yesterday, which I truly love because this matter has just gone too far: Tun M, you are wrong!

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