SOMETHING WE FORGET

As usual, we are having ethnic relation class like always. Just like weeks before except for first week of new semester, Mr. Ahmad will wait for late student that enter the class like me and 15 minutes later, he will began the lecture. That day he starts by asking the student that didn’t came to class before about what the class have learned. Luckily for me, I have asked my friends before and I am even luckily because escape from being asked.


When Mr. Ahmad give the question, students rarely volunteer to answer and when they answer, the same quote always came out. ‘I don’t know’, ‘same like him/her’, and ‘errrrmm...’. Then Mr. Ahmad asked one question, very simple but deep, to my classmate, Banchaa Inthaknu. ‘Banchaa, how did you get all the confident to talk in English and how you able to do so (sort of)?? And the very moment Banchaa start his point, I have felt attracted to hear more.


Banchaa said (the answer not exactly same, I recall what I remember),’I came from normal family, not very rich. I continue my study without getting full loan of PTPTN. So, I felt the responsibility in myself. I felt responsible to came early to class, I felt responsible to learn and I felt responsible to family. I’m just like others; my family didn’t talk English, my grand’s, and also my cousin. But I felt the responsibility to learn and to talk. Worlds today using English to communicate, and how we can compete with them if we do not know how to communicate with them. So, to compete with them, we must be like them, and then, we are able to compete with them.


The way Banchaa answer really moves me and then something came in my thought. I’m able to talk like Banchaa and I’m sure everyone in class does. I have the confident to talk, and I’m able to talk but it all depends on me, MYSELF. If Mr. Ahmad asked a question and I want to answer it, I will raise my hand and state my point. If Mr.Ahmad pointed me to answer, I will give my best to answer. But when I didn’t know about the topic, that when I give crappy answer and when I feel bored or laze, I refuse to answer. Same for my friend, they want to give the answer and they have confident to answer, but the main hurdle is some of them having difficulty to translate what they have in mind to ENGLISH. Even I having this difficulty and even lecturers felt the same.


Then the class continue with Mr. Ahmad gave a question about prejudice and stereotype. What is prejudice??? What is stereotype??? Prejudice is a baseless and usually negative attitude toward members of a group. Example, some Western people are mean to Muslim. In the other hand, stereotypes are characteristics ascribed to groups of people involving gender, race, national origin and other factors. For example, ’all rich people son will go to better school’. How this happen???


Prejudice and stereotype thought have been implemented in our mind by generation and I felt that we must open our mind and change the thought. Why some Western thought Muslims are violent. This is because they didn’t know about Muslim and wants to learn about them. And why we became stereotype is because we just accept what our environment told us without having a sense to know why that happen. It like saying other people didn’t have a chance to go to better school although they qualify for it and all rich people will get better education even though they are dumb. We must change all that. ‘All rich AND poor will go to better school if they qualify’. Rich and poor only a status although it affect a lot but AT THE END OF THE DAY, it all depend in ourselves, our effort to success, our determination to achieve dreams and our responsible to change.


I don’t know is this related to ethnic but I just want to voice up my thought, my opinion. I feel very sleepy after full day outing with friend. GOODNIGHT PEEPS....