It is fascinating how seemingly innocuous words actually are not. Especially those that sound neutral, even ethically positive. That is why the sage never thinks in haste, because he knows the words that bear his thoughts cannot be trusted and his listener's ability to understand him the way he wishes to be understood must always be doubted.

Take ‘multi-ethnic’ for example. We often consider that term to be a practical synonym for ‘pluralism’ or ‘multicultural’. And so, we move on from that concept to begin dreaming about celebrating diversity based on multi-ethnicity. And we are then exasperated by how impossible that seems to be.

I suspect the basic problem is that ‘multi-ethnic’ is actually a highly conservative term. Its major connotations are static and ignore the evolving nature of individual identities in favour of collectivising humans under simple groupings.

Revealingly, after the term ‘race’ became taboo in social scientific circles following the end of the Second World War, ‘ethnicity’ was recruited instead to replace it. In Malaysia, we now use those two as synonyms, as we do with ‘multi-racial’ and ‘multi-ethnic’.

Putting together disparate units that are in the process starkly distinguished from each other does not bode well for the harmony of the whole. There is a contradiction herein that should warn us to have low expectations. The association between the groups is encouraged to be cultural or religious and is about treating each other as members and representatives of distinct groups. This collective identity approach to social life is a defensive and conflict-oriented one that cannot but breed caution and fear rather than celebration and enjoyment. If you ask me, that is where racism has its roots.

The future is urban

There is also the aspect of existential space. If we assume rurality as the backdrop for modern social interactions, then we are assuming that there is sufficient space for problematic differences to exist at a safe distance from each other. On the other hand, if we assume urbanity instead as the present and definitely the future nature of Malaysian society, then we must deal with the fact that there is simply not enough existential space for static divisions to be able to co-exist harmoniously.