Hi ishkash thanks for your answers.
The caste system--wasn't that introduced by the Aryans (fair skinned folks) when they conquered the Dravidians (dark skins)? The fair people autmotically became recognised as superior; I was wondering if this is where the discrimination began. Anyway, the Aryan invasion isn't even accepted by some Indians, I suppose there isn't much evidence for it.
Dewali--is that your version of Deevali? Festival of Lights? In Malaysia (where I am right now), the Indians call it Deepavali since they are mostly Tamil-speaking. And Holi is like your version of April Fool's, have I got that correct?
Heyyy, I started this thread to learn about your country, not mine
; but since you asked, I'll be glad to tell you. Today I will start on the current political situation in Malaysia, if you're interested. You can always ask about other things like culture, religions and places of interest.
If you know where Thailand and Singapore is, Malaysia's right in-between. It's also a culture of unity in diversity: we live harmoniously among Malays (majority), Chinese (minority, but pretty influential as they affect trade) and Indians (minority). The Malays are the indigenous people, and they have their special indigenous rights. The Chinese have always accepted this because most care only about business and financial security (that's why they first came from Mainland China generations ago, anyway); hence they let the govt do whatever they want, as long as the Chinese are secured of trade. All Malays are born into Islam and most are very devout about it. They practise the Islamic law rather strictly, but it is not applicable to the non-Muslims.
For many years since Independence (1957), our people have lived in admirable harmony even though the Malays have had special rights, like
. the education system is more lenient towards Malays
. Malays are assured business opportunities because all government companies ought to have a fixed % of their race.
Lately, though, with the sacking of our Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (have you heard of this? He was trialed for sodomy, a serious offense in Islam), our nation has "woken up" so to speak. Many, mostly Malays, believe that it was a govt conspiracy that got Anwar deposed since he was about to expose the govt of their corruption. Just like Indonesia, but not as bad because we don't have civil bloodshed or racial rivalry.
Now introducing another player into the game: the Opposition party, comprising mostly extreme Islamic leaders. Their reputation have made the non-Muslims come to fear them taking over govt, because who knows, they might impose their fanatical laws on us. However, now that the govt has been exposed to be incompetent and corrupt (it's been a long time coming), the Opposition seems to be the lesser of two evils. And even more recently, they are trying to shed their overzealous Islamic image.
So now the people are questioning the govt. This generation of Chinese & Indians no longer have nationalistic feelings towards China and India, because they're mostly born in Malaysia, so we all feel like we belong. During our last election, the corrupt govt employed scare tactics so as to tell the non-Muslims (who are still hesitant about opposing the govt, for fear of no financial security) how they would suffer if the Opposition ever took hold of the reins of power. Most non-Muslims fell for it.
It has been a year since the elections, and times are still a-changing. Support for the opposition is increasing. The Opposition is now not only made up of the Islamic Party, but includes a large Chinese dominated party as well.
There are more exciting things to come in Malaysian politics, as this present govt is getting stale and decrepit. It's even dangerous for someone to speak against the govt, actually it's dangerous if that someone is influential and a VIP. I don't know about lay people getting threats for saying unflattering things. But it's a possibility this will become a police state if our Prime Minister (Dr Mahathir) gets any more senile, and if the govt continues to perverse the law for their own purposes.
I think I got carried away in this post, maybe I shouldn't have brought up politics at all
. Thanks for your prompt and informative replies, it's been so interesting and fun!
foray