I read in The Star how a reporter known to highlight environmental issues in his reports had to apologize to a few rowdy men over his remarks while he was DRUNK that the ‘Malays are from Malaysia 0r Indonesia, and are not smart’, and I immediately identified him as Karam Singh Walia. Who else does such a magnificent job for environmental issues around? Well, yes, Karam Singh Walia should have known better about uttering those words, particularly with some Malays being very sensitive with anything which has the word ‘Malay’ or ‘Islam’ in it, but you can obviously see he was drunk in the video. Kosmo! today reported (link) that Karam Singh Walia had made a public statement that he was not assulted because he was drunk, but because he ticked off a bunch of youths for parking inconsiderately. He added that he said almost whatever the mob wanted him to say because he was worried about the safety of his nephew.
I think, it justifies that the man was drunk, and he apologized for such words, but I do not condone the way these ‘merry men’ came up to Karam Singh Walia like an uncivilized gangster group, demanding an apology. To add salt, they used vulgar words against Karam Singh, and treated him like dirt and demanded he say more, repeating his words (wanna add salt eyh??), asking him to pay for food and drinks for everyone in the whole shop, asking that he prostrate (sujud in Malay) (Karam Singh himself asked if he would be forgiven shall he prostrate to those concern) and many more. To top that up, some even said “Remember us Malays” to dear Mr Karam Singh Walia. What a point to stress when you are behaving like uncivilized people. (Check the video below.)
Seriously guys, being unruly, rude and behaving like kids are no way to solve a problem. In fact, I look down on these ‘merry men’ because of their actions which I personally deem as being ‘overly sensitive’ and uncivilized.
The fact is that , Karam Signgh apologized repeatedly, and it was a private discussion among him and his friends while he was drunk. We know how drunk people can be, and tell me, how many of us talk about other races in a negative way when we are with our private circle of friends? Drunk people can’t drive, so what makes you think they can think clearly? It’s a small issue which can be resolved by merely asking him nicely that his words are hurtful. There’s no need to shame anyone and create chaos, and the fact they also asked him to pay for their drinks makes them just low.
With that said, I must stress that I do not condone such words by Karam Singh Walia, BUT… I feel that the mob’s attack was far worse than what Karam Singh Walia said because they actually proved that what Karam Singh Walia said when he was drunk was true, at least for those bunch of guys.
As for all the races in Malaysia… I have these words: “We are all born with our own ability, but our actions will dictate how others will look at them.” Don’t be like the uncivilized people above. I believe they painted a very bad picture of their race, despite the fact that we all know and can easily name some very smart and influential Malays around us, such as Tun Mahathir himself.