14 March 2013 Today, I was the victim of racism.

The Confession But before you read on, I have to confess; Im partly a racist too. Being brought up in Singapore, where racial and religious harmony were taught to us at a tender young age, I was still aware of racism happening at the ground level. However, thanks to my neighbourhood secondary school, I was able to mingle freely and without qualms with my fellow Indian and Malay Singaporeans. Its obvious that accepting people of different skin colour wasnt my problem. The real problem I have, is accepting people who bring their bad habits into a new environment, and making that environment their own. The Drunk So here I was, in my sunnies and blissfully immersed in the playlist, on a normal day to University on the least advanced bus service in Auckland. Everything was ordinary, up until the second last stop where I abruptly get hit (not tapped) on the shoulders. Before I turned around, I heard a mufed rumbling going on beside my ear. The minute I took out my earphones and turned, the stench of an alcoholic breath greeted me. Why didnt you give up your seat for that lady there? the unshaven Caucasian asked; the bus being rather empty after most passengers alighted and all possible ladies seated. The lady all the way in front there? I sarcastically gestured, pointing generally to the front. Yeah, in our culture, we give up our seats for women out of respect. Next time, give up your damn seat for women. When you come into our country, learn some respect and give it up cos youre in our country now, he said with his blood-shot eyes as he slid back to his seat, clearly intoxicated. Sure. I rebutted, and at the nal stop, thanked the bus driver before alighting, as all polite Aucklanders would. The next few hours, I was consumed with this scenario playing again and again in my mind. Was I in the wrong? Why did he choose me of all the Asian people in the bus? There wasnt even a lady standing in my immediate vicinity. All possible replies formulated in my head: Youre kidding me! IM getting a lecture on bus etiquette and manners from a dude who wreaks of alcohol in the middle of the day? Exactly what I need in the morning! Are all Asians, foreigners with a poor grasp of English? Do you even attend school or Uni? Get a job, sober the hell up and do something with your life before you start telling people what to do!

Do you bloody know what I do for a living? You have no moral high ground to instruct me on how I should behave. Ill take it as an insult to my parents in saying that Im not wellmannered. Of course, in reality I quenched the situation by letting it slide. I had half a mind to just land a punch or elbow to his face. I was furious not because of the drunkards words, but rather at the fact that behind him, two Kiwi teens were laughing away. The Kiwi lady seated beside me, in contrast, told me to ignore his antics. There still is good in this world. The Eureka Moment This set me thinking; isnt this the same, back home in Singapore with the projected 6.9 million population by 2030? Yes, Im one of those that hate the stench of construction workers boarding the train in hoards early in the morning, when Im in clean ofce attire. Not only do they stink up the train, but they rush for seats together with the other (rather few) Singaporeans. I hate it when mainland Chinese spit on the ground right in front of my path. I hate it when Orchard Road is lled with foreigners speaking loudly in their dozens of languages, creating an actual buzz in the heart of the city. I hate it that Singlish is no longer the dominant language. I hate it all. I just want the Singapore I grew up knowing, back. Then I realised, that no, I cant have it back. We cant return to our former ways. The only choice is to accept and embrace globalisation, and with it, the millions of foreign faces that would eventually make up the new Singapore. This is a vicious cycle, in and of itself. If you treat tit for tat, everyone in this world would denitely be worse off. The only reason why that drunkard had a thing against Asians was the bad experiences or the preconceived biases that came about through real events that happened to him. Could I be the change? Sure I could! And at this moment when this revelation hit me, I forgave racism. Racism was no longer a reality that I fed my energy to. The anger and fury that once was burning no longer had its hold on me. Yes, I could be treated badly and racially abused. But theres nothing I can do about it, and its probably going to happen again. Everyone has their own battles, just let it slide, my voice of reason echoed.

Never look down on someone unless youre helping them up - Jesse Jackson

The Finale What I cant change, is the fact that I am Asian, and Im proud to be a Singaporean Chinese. Many a times when I speak to Caucasians, theyre in awe of my level of spoken English that they stare at me in disbelief. Since I cant change my ethnicity, what I can control, is how I respond to people in their initial phase of stereotyping me as a Chinese. Respond well to adversities, and youll soon be on your way to a better world (at least in your immediate future). The biggest lesson that I learnt, was not how to deal with racism, but rather that I, myself, the racist, had to change my perspective of others around me. Every single person is made equal, regardless of skin colour and facial features. Personal upbringing, on the other hand..... Well, lets leave that for another time and day; this is one huge lesson that I want to allow to settle in me.

Signing off (with a HUGE sigh of relief and change in heart), The racist, that once was.