WHO ARE WE?

This book is about identity politics. I’m not denying that every one of us should strive and work hard for the betterment of their own race and religion especially in our multi racial country. But I’m not in favour of when politicians are riding issues and promoting hatred just to gain popularity and votes. This should apply to all parties. Our nation is built on a thin line of solidarity that needs to be strengthen from time to time, and the responsibilities to preserve it fall to all who called themselves Malaysians.

I’m sharing some good points from the author :

“How we talk about these things demands sensitivity. This works both ways.

Insensitivity never achieved much. Baiting, ridiculing and humiliating are poor substitutes for satire, irony and humour, although they often masquerade as such. When these are employed by the powerful against the powerless, it is not clever but cowardly. Freedom of speech is an important right and value, but it coexists with other values which are no less important.

However, oversensitivity never achieved much either. Not every nuance, challenge, wordplay or display of ignorance is a slight; not every slight is worthy of being escalated into an incident; not every provocation need be indulged. Just because someone aims victimhood does not mean they have to be believed or that they cannot also be a perpetrator of victimization. We all have a duty to help create the safe spaces for people to both engage in self-criticism and accept criticism from others. But we have no less a duty to engage in an honest and open manner that makes such difficult discussions possible.”

“It is precisely in these moments that those who would like to deny the complexity, fluidity and multilayered nature of identity thrive, by flattening out the landscape into 'us and them'. In times of crisis, there is little opportunity for nuance or reflection. People don't talk, they scream. And nobody really listens. That is why it is precisely in these moments that solidarity is most crucial.”

“Identity is not seeking a role in politics. It is already there. Nor is it seeking a role in our lives. It is there too. For better, for worse and usually for both, it is an integral part of how we relate to people as individuals and as groups. The choice is whether we want to succumb to its perils amidst moral panic and division or leverage its potential through solidarity in search of common, and higher, ground.”