?Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan, 24
Conservationist
Sharyn completed her Diploma in Advertising from Taylor’s College, and then left motherland to pursue her BA degree majoring in Media Studies and Anthropology at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. While waiting for her graduation in May 08, she interned briefly at M&C Saatchi Wellington, a global advertising firm. Upon returning to Malaysia, jobless and relieved of rent payments, Sharyn stumbled upon Wild Asia through The Star which sparked her interest to learn more about nature and environmental causes. Armed with a communications background, Sharyn works on the Wild Asia website and editorial, translating geek terms into laymen language, easily accessed and understood by visitors regardless of their backgrounds, be it scientific, business, the arts or just plain interested.
Iâm happy that I donât have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up âAre you Chinese or Malayâ
Like, why does it matter? Before I used to answer âMalayâ but now Iâm trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead..
Thereâs this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I donât have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that Iâm older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesnât define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or ALI and still be a Christian.
Iâve heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we donât need to be told to be united. Weâve come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders.
No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, âI donât feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysia is my home, and I donât feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there..
I know some baby Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. Iâm a fourth generation Malaysian.. If I am Bumiputra, why canât they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term.
I think the main reason why we still canât achieve total unity is because of this âMalay rightsâ concept. Iâd rather âMalay rightsâ be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity.
For my merdeka wish, Iâd like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.
I wish that Malaysia would truly live up to the tourism spin of Malaysia truly Asia.
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