One world, One dream

Baba's thought for today.
"There should not be any trace of dislike
or distrust on the score of nationality,
language, caste, economic status, scholarship,
age or sex."

I am reminded of my days in University of Malaya 40 years ago when we interacted as one "race". There was no racial tension. Words such as polarisation did not exist in our vocabulary then.

MU, the only university in Malaysia at that time, must be lauded for the measures that were implemented then. In the halls of residence, first year students had to stay for one semester in dormitaries shared by six girls of different races. This was a good experience for us, for by living togather we had the chance to learn about each others' culture, food and sensitivities. Both Muslims and non muslim food were served in the dining room and all students collected their respective food preferences from the counters and we then sat and ate together, both muslims and non muslims and thus we could interact as well as know about the various dishes. This was indeed very effective at bringing the integrating the races.

I also remember a frightful experience when I had a Malay girl as my room mate. One evening, on entering the room around 'magrib' time, I had a shock of my life when I saw a white figure behind the door. Naturally,in the dim light of dusk, I thought I had seen a ghost!! This is just one of the instances of learning through experiences and it is through such examples that we as Malaysian can live as One Nation.

Internationally, events are held periodically to bring countries togather. Sports events, leadership events, community service conferences etc are good occassions for people of all races to meet so as to foster understanding and respect for people of all races, creed and culture. But individuals must also play thier role in their personal capacity towards fostering goodwill. The picture show the crowd of different nationalities cheering during the paralympics football match in Beijing 2008.

The paralympics held in Beijing in 2008 opened my eyes to the recognition of all races as equal human beings irrespective of their colour, creed and physical conditions. The motto of One World , One Dream (Pictures taken in Tiananmen Square last year) should be the guideline of how we should live our lives and treat all with compassion.