Staying clear of the racism bait

Let's kid not ourselves. The state of the country's race relations leaves much to be desired. It is unbelievable the amount of thrash-talk peppered with racist sentiments, which we are bombarded with daily. It didn't help that the Internet has amplified some of these bigotry messages in ways our forefathers could never imagine.

Sure enough, each time racist bigots seize control of the modern-day megaphone, emotions run high, the political temperature shoots up and the sense of despair descends. It is, to be fair, a natural reaction.

When we hear hurtful but utterly baseless stuff against our race, we fret about it to our friends, set up Facebook groups to vent our anger, kick up a fuss on Twitter, forward emails laced with racial slurs and even rap about it on YouTube. Okay fine, perhaps not all of us do.

But each time we let out emotions reign, we let the racists in our midst win. When we unnecessarily react to racist remarks, we only make other racial groups harden their stance and retreat further into their racial silo. When we do this, we allow a vicious cycle to run its course - a cycle that may one day take a life of its own.

Sure, it's easy to blame the politicians for all this. After all, chances are, they are the ones who sparked it, fanned it and - surprise, surprise - took advantage of it. (Although to be fair, only a handful of politicians resort to such ways.)

But really, the only reason why they keep playing this game is because WE react to them. When they say something which most of us would think has no place in this country, we get worked up - often unnecessarily.

In other words, we allow the racists to press our anger buttons easily. We easily fall for their clever wordplay that feeds on our insecurity and fears. That's why they keep saying silly stuff because they know there's a multitude out there who would swallow such remarks line, hook and sinker.

So what now? Sit back and do nothing as bigots condemn our forefathers, run down our race and insult our religion? Perhaps not. But we need not further fuel the racists' craze by according unnecessary recognition to their twisted views - or worse, behave like them.

Fifty-three years on, this country is too beautiful to be be destroyed by a small band of racist maniacs. We can - and need to - stop this by not allowing ourselves be the tools for the destruction of this country that deserves better.

A new adventure begins

Half-a-year since this blog was last updated, it is only right that I revive this space will a little announcement: I am staying put as an aide. Come June 16, I will be joining the new Youth and Sports Deputy Minister as his principal private secretary, dealing largely with Ministry-related work.

To be honest, I was waffling between returning to journalism or sticking to a field which I was only starting to learn the ropes. Probably, having experience in both fields will be an added bonus to whichever side of the divide I ended up with. In the end, I decided to give aide-sphere another shot. I figured there are still areas I can pick up in this line. And armed with the experience from my previous place, I ought to be able to know my way around easier.

Besides, I am young enough to forego the luxury of a stable-income job in the long-run (in exchange for better learning opportunities) but old enough to know that time is not on my side if I now make a wrong career move.

Many thanks to those who's offered words of encouragement and opportunities after I left the previous office, somewhat hurriedly, although not completely unexpectedly. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a more enriching experience in the Ministry of Transport, warts and all. No regrets there. To friends in the media, I hope I will not hear the last from you (rest assure you will not from me).

As for this blog, I had made enough empty promises to keep it alive to last me several lifetimes. For now, I just look forward to my next "reincarnation" in the new Ministry on Wednesday :)