We live in a world where people often judge each other by their skin tone and race. I am a Malaysian Chinese. Does that make us any different to my Somalian friend? Your first instinct might tell you – yes.
Think twice about your answer.
Let’s have a scenario where my friend and I both fell down and ended up with cuts on our arms. I bled. And so did my friend. We both have red blood.
Yes, she might be Somalian and have colored skin. But are both humans! We live on the same planet and want to live a happy life. What gives us the right to judge one another by our skin colour?
Projek 57’s Unity Ribbon Making Projek had students from Sunway University, SOLS, and Somalian regufees to come together and bond. Together, we made Unity Ribbons and met people from different community. We learnt that we can achieve much more if we unite together. Unity does not depend on your race or skin colour. We must know that we are all the same.
The Somalian refugees shared with us some of their stories. Unlike their home country, Malaysia is such a peaceful place with no wars. They mentioned about their love for Malaysia and how they considered this place as their home.
What really moved me was when one of the refugees told us about her own experience of being criticized by Malaysians whenever in public. She has experienced Malaysians coming to her and telling her to leave this country immediately as she doesn’t belong here. Knowing that people don’t welcome her into Malaysia made her feel extremely depressed.
Together, lets abolish racism and make this world a better place. It is not right to judge people by their skin tones and race as this will bring down their confidence and self esteem. Just imagine someone doing the same to you, how would you feel?
