The Fallacy of Race Superiority

Yin says that it is a sweeping statement to say that Chinese are good in business. Do you know how many Chinese businesses fail for everyone that succeeds? Often they do business because they have no choice – they have no government jobs to fall back on, or GLCs to employ them and their parents can’t afford to send them overseasto study; so apa mahu buat? Do some small business lah.

Money?  Borrow from parents, uncles, aunts, friends and the really desperate ones, from Ah Long. The stakes are high and they cannot afford to fail. There is no government to bail them out and if they take a loan they must pay back.

So do you agree with Yin?

Yin: It disappoints me that there are those who obviously subscribes to the notion that it is in our genes and not ourselves (our efforts) that determine how well we do in life.

In response to the “conversation” (my piece called “A conversation with young malays”),  a reader, called Majid, commented that “(if) Meritocracy is the way, 90% of the student and staff at the University all Chinese and Indians with a sprinkling of Malays” and “. . . all the doctors will be Indians”.

In short what he is saying is there is nothing we can do about it as it is determined by our genes what we are – that some are born more intelligent, more enterprising, more hard working and others are notand by implication therefore need to have special privileges.

I wonder if he has been influenced by“The Bell Curve” – Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein.The writers postulated that the relative differences between the White and Black populations, as well as between male and female, stem from  genetic differences between the groups.

To put it simply, “Black Men can jump” and “White Men are clever” Not only that, but women are inferior to men.  (Hogwash; all the women I know are smarter than I).

If we accept the Bell Curve; then in our Malaysian context “Yellow Men can do business” “Black Men are good doctors, lawyers etc” and “Brown Men need crutches”.

(By the way “The Bell Curve” has been discredited by academics and intellectuals).

Please don’t let me hear you say or even think this ever again Encik. Don’t sell yourself short!

If you keep telling yourself “I am not as good as the other guy” you won’t be! If you say “I cannot run faster than him” even before the race, why bother to run?

I have said before that the Malays are as good as anyone else and that’s not just talk. You have it in you to be as good as anyone else IF ONLY YOU LET YOURSELF BE. If only you throw away the crutches.

Don’t be afraid; what don’t kill you only make you stronger (ask the non-Malays).

It is a sweeping statement to say that Chinese are good in business. Do you know how many Chinese businesses fail for everyone that succeeds? Often they do business because they have no choice – they have no government jobs to fall back on, or GLCs to employ them and their parents can’t afford to send them overseasto study; so apa mahu buat? Do some small business lah. Money?  Borrow from parents, uncles, aunts, friends and the really desperate ones, from Ah Long. The stakes are high and they cannot afford to fail. There is no government to bail them out and if they take a loan they must pay back.

Another fallacy: Chinese students are good in maths . . .  maybe not a fallacy I will admit, but my caveat is – Chinese School Students – we English School kids are hopeless (or at least I was).

But it’s not because they have maths genes; it’s because maths is drummed into them. Even before computers came out they were using the abacus (an early form of computer).

Have you noticed that when you buy from a Chinese he has already calculated the price and got the right change for you before you even open your purse?

With the Malays they are still tapping on the calculator.

This is not a put down but a reality. And this is  because one has maths drummed into him from a young age and the other not.

And if you don’t believe me that race has nothing to do with it – just check out the Malay boys and girls who study in Chinese Schools. You will find that their maths is also very good.

I agree with the reader that if the ‘flood gates’ are opened the Malays will be swamped because they can’t swim. But sixty two years and not taught to swim? Ask your leaders why.

The Malays must look for a leader who is not afraid to call a spade a spade. Look for someone who is tough but fair and will not tolerate slacking. Someone who will extend every help but no handouts. A leader with tough love.

This leader is not Mahathir. While he certainly calls a spade a spade; at the same time he is the Candy Man who dishes out sweets. It was he who got you hooked on candies forty years ago.

Unfortunately I see no such leader in the current lot nor the next in line. That is why I said the country is in the hands of the Young Malays – those of you in university now.

Please don’t use this genetic argument as a crutch.It’s very easy to crawl back into the comfort zone of special privileges but where will that get you?

If I may borrow from Shakespeare: “The fault, dear Majid, is not in our stars nor in our genes; but in ourselves; though princes of the earth; yet are underlings”.