I was talking to a friend today who has been courting a girl for years with a different race than him. He somehow got the positive response he has been waiting for a long time. But the final verdict still relies on the girl's parents' approval. He was so anxious that the parents may not approve of him. So, I asked him why does he have to worry? If they both love each other, then the parents should not be a problem. This is anyway what I believe since we are already in this high-technology generation where most people are so concern about economy and new inventions rather than meddling with some "trivial" issues of their kids' life. But this is totally not the case for him and the girl because he is Indian and the girl is Chinese. The racial differences matter most to the girl's family. This proves that even in a very advanced country like Singapore, there are still people who are very traditional. Like parents who choose or must approve a partner for their son/daughter and who look at every angle before making any consideration. Then, it occured to me that as much as people hate racism, discrimination, prejudice, stereotype, partiality, biases, etc., they are actually, consciously or unconsciously, practicing it. In the middle of our conversation, I told my friend, more or less, exactly these words.
"When you are not of the same race with the majority, you are being alienated. Even if you belong to the same race, if you do not have the same status in life, you are considered an outsider. And you may be of the same status, but if you do not have a good history or family background, you are still unaccepted."
Sad but true. Apparently, this exists in every part of the planet. Other countries have denounced discrimination, but this is an inevitabe reality because it's one of the unique behaviour given to mankind since time immemorial.
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