Racism: White People and South Africa Essay

Compare and contrast between racism in Malaysia and South Africa. â€Å"Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason†, quoted by Abraham J. Heschel. As we know the history of racism is long and despicable one. The journey to overcome this obstacle that has plagued us for years is just as time consuming and the effort is overwhelming. A recent survey has showed that South Africa is the highest rate of racism among all the country. So now let us analyze the racism between Malaysia and South Africa. The most notable difference between the racism in Malaysia and South Africa is the oppression on women. Till today, men in Africa still hold the traditional perspective that women are like their property and subject to their abuse. The poverty Africa could be one of the main causes why women in Africa are still undergoing such a great deal of oppression unlike women in other areas. They were paid less for a greater amount of work and less benefits too. Sometime, they were dismissed without advance notice or termination pay. Besides, South Africa has the world’s highest level of reported rape – nearly half a million each year. So it is not surprising that South Africa is often called the â€Å"rape capital of the world†. It has shown that women in Africa typically hold lower status and normally weaker than men from physical and mentally. Therefore they are easily to be oppressed and exploited by African men. In Malaysia, the position of women today has greatly improved. The Government’s commitment to promote gender equality is evidenced by several policies, administrative decision and amendments to laws that have attempted to grant equal rights to women and to remove discrimination against them. It should perhaps be acknowledged that most of the changes made were in response to lobbying by women through unions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other women’s groups. For example, in relation to employment rights, women teachers succeeded in getting the Government to adopt the principle of equal pay for equal work in 1967. Yet another difference between the racism in two different countries is discrimination of different race. In South Africa, there is a prohibiting marriage between white people and people of other races. It considers as â€Å"unlawful racial intercourse† and â€Å"any immoral or indecent act† between a white person and an African, Indian or coloured person. Blacks were not allowed to run businesses in those areas designated as â€Å"white South Africa† without a permit. They were supposed to move to their homelands and set up businesses and practices there. Transport and civil facilities were segregated. Black buses stopped at black bus stops and white buses at white ones. Trains, hospitals and ambulances were segregated. Even though black people were not allowed to employ white people in white South Africa. Since Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak became the sixth Prime Minister, he introduced a concept of solidarity, which is One Malaysia. 1 Malaysia brought the aspirations to improve race relations to ensure that the people of Malaysia to forge closer unity. The basic thing that needs to be created in the spirit of solidarity is a feeling of respect, sincerity and mutual trust between the races. Therefore, our citizens give priority to the interests of national allegiance and loyalty to the people and solve their own group. For example, one Indian got hit by a reckless car while he was playing outside the house. Some of neighbors (few Chinese but mostly Malays) quickly rushed for help, and they really got angry with the driver and almost smacked him! Although the neighbors are Malays, they stood for an Indian neighbor. Furthermore, the difference of racism between Malaysia and South Africa is the education system. South Africa has a high-cost, low-performance education system that does not compare favorably with education systems in other African countries, or in similar developing economies. There is a multitude of well-publicized problems, including a shortage of teachers, under qualified teachers and poor teacher performance. In the classroom, this results in poor learner standards and results, a lack of classroom discipline and is exacerbated by insufficient resources and inadequate infrastructure. So it is not surprising that many South Africans are low-educated and paid for little salaries. Malaysia’s educational system generally promotes surface and passive learning instead of deep and active learning which are crucial for creating a quality learning environment. The products of our school system are generally ill-prepared either for higher education work or life in general. As we know, our students lack critical and creative thinking skills because our educational system promotes conformity and uniformity. Therefore, a lot of step in transforming our education system are done. For example, one of the crucial steps is begin with the end in our mind. So, Malaysian students and graduates can possess adequate disciplinary knowledge, be self-confident and achievement-oriented persuasive and effective communicators. In conclusion, here are the main three differences between the racism in Africa and Malaysia. Even though racism is wrong, it is still being practiced in this country and in others. The origins are obscure, but it most likely had something to do with the fact that early humankind thought â€Å"black† (because it resembled â€Å"night†) was bad and â€Å"white† (because it resembled â€Å"day†) was good. But our enlightened society has more discernment than this, and we know that a person is neither good nor bad depending on the color of their skin.