Our conversation on what constitutes racism and what causes it quickly came to this conclusion, in the form of a question:

'Much of our 'racism' is because we are defensive. We feel we cannot trust this country. When will we turn around just to see that the country has betrayed us?'

This took me aback. Trying to understand why, i asked - 'how will this country betray us?'

The policies, the institutions... we feel it does not take care of all of us the same. We feel like we do not all belong in the same way. We cannot trust it.

**

Who is Malaysia and is she vengeful?

Malaysia to me is made up of its people. The government is not the nation, nor its policies, nor its politicians - these are components in the administration of society, but it is not the nation in essence. That the government or politicians in power may not be reliable or people we can really trust; does not mean we cannot trust the nation. That there is corruption, that there are many rotten apples in government or political parties.... does not mean that Malaysia is a bad nation, does not mean that we need to leave it and search greener pastures.

We've got our nation on one hand; We've got 'the politicians' on the other. They may speak the loudest, but they don't speak for us.

**

Say your job and existence relies solely on how much support you receive.

We see it enough even in smaller scales, among smaller groups - in the office or in a society in which we are members. If one's stature and position relies on being able to get support, within a flawed, non-ideal situation - what's more - in a situation where the subjects from whom you need support seem more eager to hear how much more impressive your rhetoric is or the juicy gossips and scandals on your opponents, rather than the actual substance of your plans, intentions and actions..... What happens?

It quickly becomes a game of facades - brandishing your name as much as possible, tarnishing the other as much as possible to make your side look good. At all cost.

Now suppose they found that the best and quickest way to do so was to stoke fear and defenses - something they could get to by touching on something really personal and dear to us - like our race, our cultural identity, our religion.

Should we let this happen?

**

Steer clear of that trap!!

The real trap here - the real defenses we have to first keep - is not for our rights or our position. This is a fight for proper management, for right governance, and it will surely be self defeating if instead of coming together as one people to demand this, we start misplaced battles against one another.

First, we need to be careful that we do not succumb to fear. We need to be careful we are not made to react out of fear, out of feeling threatened, to react in a way that is damaging not just to others but to ourselves.

The real trap is the sly tactic that tries to pit us against each other. They may make us feel threatened - they may set up situations, and play it up, to ignite and stoke our fears, to put us on our defensive, to make us see ourselves as divided into 'us' and 'them'. And then they will swoop in and say they fight for 'us' ... That is when they are really trying to say - 'we are on your side, give us the power'.

But this land already belongs to all of us rightful Malaysians. We are on the same side; the ones on the other side are those who are willing to hurt the nation.

This is a trap. It is a trap with lines played by all who are in the game.

Do not fall into it.

**

The real Malaysia

Malaysia is made up of her people. I remember Abang Long, who once gave me a ride back on the bus he was driving, from Changlun to Taiping.

He is a man of rare quality. He spoke sincerely about his job, his family and the children he is trying to put through school, trying to raise into good hearted, educated human beings. His job is to drive the bus throughout the night, until the wee hours of the morning, and then he would go to the back of the bus where there was a small bunk for him to rest, he explained. After his break, his shift would start again, back and forth, back and forth through the highways.

His philosophy - safety first, but not just that - conduct a safe, smooth journey. His passengers would need the rest throughout the journey, he explained. They needed not only to be safe, but to have the peace of mind, to be able to rest on the way. Who knows, there might be a cikgu on his bus, they have students to teach the next day. They needed to get their rest.. and it was his job to make sure they had the peace of mind for that.

Has he ever gotten into an accident before? i ask him. Yes, he said - Once.

And there was a tinge of regret in his voice, a tinge of shame. It was dark, he couldnt really see the lorry in front. Nobody was hurt, there was a bit of damage on the bus. How long has he been doing this work? i asked him.

Twenty years. One minor accident in twenty years of driving. I thought it was remarkable and repeated it with awe. he did not say it with pride, however - in a matter of fact way, for him, that one incident was bad enough.

Good people and bad people come in all types, he said to me later. Its all in the heart.

i agreed with him and though i did not mention it, i thought it was interesting that just a while ago, his colleague and co-driver was saying the same thing to me -

There are those whose hearts are good - cina kah, india kah, melayu kah... whatever...these are our friends. And then there are those who are 'hati busuk'. And as for these, what for berkawan with them? Why would we want to be around these people?

When they dropped me off it was pretty late. They did not have to pick me up in the first place, i was a lost traveller, they did not have any seats available for me but set aside some space for me at the front. i needed the ride and would not have been able to get home as easily without these brothers.

Cross the road carefully, he said to me as i gathered my bags and prepared to disembark - Will you be okay? he asked. Yes - I smiled. Terima kasih, bang.

i will never forget that, but there are so many stories like it. from the guys who took a bus ride out of their town just to return some money they found belonging to an elderly lady; to the young man who went out of his way to give a ride home to someone whose car had broken down; to the taxi drivers who always seem concerned on my behalf and warn me to take care, be careful about unscrupulous people/other taxi drivers out there (7 out of 10, in my experience at least).

***

Yes, we can trust our country. Our country is made up of us. We need to safeguard the nation from those who would hurt it for their own gain.

Our priority is to safeguard Malaysia - honest, hardworking Malaysians like Abang Long and his gang. When we safeguard our nation, remember, we are safeguarding it for people like them. And when we speak of Malaysia, remember - we are speaking about these beautiful, honest ones.