I was on the way traveling back to Kampua Town in one of my usual 7 hours bus trip. This time I was amused by a statement a lil' girl gave to her mom...
So this girl was sitting in the row in front of me with her mom. For a 3-5 years old, she speaks English fluently and throughout the trip she keeps commenting on everything she sees. When it rained and a rainbow appear she sings the "How many color does a rainbow have... blue... red.. yellow etc"... then when she ate snacks she commented about it, when a random things pass edby the bus she also commented on it. And from time to time she climb up her seat, turned back and stared at me who was struggling to get some sleep after a long day yesterday... well I tried to put on a :) but the grogginess made me look more like a pedophile so... yeah I just tried to sleep here and then.
Now there's one statement she made that caught my attention:
"I got long hair so I am a girl"
"I wear dress, so I am a girl"
"Yada yada yada, so I am a girl" and so on for a few minutes.
I smirked for a while at the back, thinking about what the kindergartens, nursuries or schools are teaching kids nowadays. I mean, yeah those statements may apply well 2-3 decades ago, but time's change. Those statement can be so stereotypical (not all girls have long hair or wear dresses) and this kind of stereotyping implantation is worrying me about the future. Soon they'll grow up to continue the cycle of stereotyping the society, walking around with the ideas that "if you're a Muslim you MUST be Malay" or "if I don't vote for the government they'll know I didn't and they'll do something to me" or "you're Malaysian? So you're Malay?" or "you from Sarawak? You live on trees right?" or "hm... you have Muslim name... YOU MUST BE A TERRORIST!" will offend people around them.
Imagine those statements being said out loud to an Indian or Chinese Muslim? Won't they feel offended or don't you think they'll look at you as an ignorant bastard since the statement is staring at them in the eyes? At the airport those who have middle-eastern looks (Indians, Bangladeshi etc not spared somehow, North Americans tend to categorize them in the same category) will be labelled terrorist in the West. Then imagine me, a Chinese looking dude holding a muslim name at NY airport; big chance I'll get arrested for being a suspect North Korean Al-Qaeda agent (WTF) and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba (haha Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay replays in mind).
Well, my point is that I'm just worried about the stereotypingness in the society. Maybe when our generation takes over from the old baby boomers, we can bring a revolution to the education system, and change how the generation Z will grow up and see the world.
So this girl was sitting in the row in front of me with her mom. For a 3-5 years old, she speaks English fluently and throughout the trip she keeps commenting on everything she sees. When it rained and a rainbow appear she sings the "How many color does a rainbow have... blue... red.. yellow etc"... then when she ate snacks she commented about it, when a random things pass edby the bus she also commented on it. And from time to time she climb up her seat, turned back and stared at me who was struggling to get some sleep after a long day yesterday... well I tried to put on a :) but the grogginess made me look more like a pedophile so... yeah I just tried to sleep here and then.
Now there's one statement she made that caught my attention:
"I got long hair so I am a girl"
"I wear dress, so I am a girl"
"Yada yada yada, so I am a girl" and so on for a few minutes.
I smirked for a while at the back, thinking about what the kindergartens, nursuries or schools are teaching kids nowadays. I mean, yeah those statements may apply well 2-3 decades ago, but time's change. Those statement can be so stereotypical (not all girls have long hair or wear dresses) and this kind of stereotyping implantation is worrying me about the future. Soon they'll grow up to continue the cycle of stereotyping the society, walking around with the ideas that "if you're a Muslim you MUST be Malay" or "if I don't vote for the government they'll know I didn't and they'll do something to me" or "you're Malaysian? So you're Malay?" or "you from Sarawak? You live on trees right?" or "hm... you have Muslim name... YOU MUST BE A TERRORIST!" will offend people around them.
Imagine those statements being said out loud to an Indian or Chinese Muslim? Won't they feel offended or don't you think they'll look at you as an ignorant bastard since the statement is staring at them in the eyes? At the airport those who have middle-eastern looks (Indians, Bangladeshi etc not spared somehow, North Americans tend to categorize them in the same category) will be labelled terrorist in the West. Then imagine me, a Chinese looking dude holding a muslim name at NY airport; big chance I'll get arrested for being a suspect North Korean Al-Qaeda agent (WTF) and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba (haha Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay replays in mind).
Well, my point is that I'm just worried about the stereotypingness in the society. Maybe when our generation takes over from the old baby boomers, we can bring a revolution to the education system, and change how the generation Z will grow up and see the world.
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