The following is a letter I wrote in response to one I saw published in today's The Star, a local daily in Malaysia. The latter was itself a response to one published on the 31st of December, pleading fairness in the locals' judging of Africans. For those not in the know, African expats in Malaysia are given pretty unfair stick by the locals. In fairness some of the bad rep is warranted, as many have resorted to crimes such as employment or money-laundering scams to get by. Incidents of thuggery in the city centre have also been reported, however in classic Malaysian tactful moderation many have chosen to slap a label on the entire continent, a fine example of which appears below:

Africans must clear their own image



I believe the majority of Malaysians will not agree with Stephen Ng who pleaded that "...we have to avoid stereotyping Africans..." (The Star, December 31).


There may be good Africans like students Ile Pius of Nigeria and Emmanuel Muheka of Mozambique. Unfortunately the good men of Africa, like President Nelson Mandela, are the exceptions rather than the rule.


Negative stereotyping of Africa is the fault of the Africans themselves. Mention Africa and nothing positive comes to mind. Africa is synonymous with corruption, misadministration, power-crazy leaders, inept civil service, war, poverty, famine, disease etc.


My own experience with Africans in Kuala Lumpur cannot rid me of my negative opinion of them. In fact. those spoke to agree that good governance is lacking in their respective countries.


Until and unless the Africans themselves set their house in order, no amount of defence from Stephen Ng can change the negative stereotyping by Malaysians of Africans.

At one time, the world stereotyped Malaysia as a backward and hopeless country. Today, Malaysia is looked upon as a model for many African countries and has received accolade [sic] from the World Bank and other multilateral agencies for good governance and improving the lifr of the ordinary people.H

Hassan Talib
Gombak, Selangor.

Now that we've got that idiocy out of the way. You'll notice of course, its sheer class and eloquence relative to the above drivel. Not to mention it actually makes a cogent point. You'll notice I carefully plagiarised his title, just to be deliberately contrary. Careful psychological analysis will also show the pseudonym to be an ingenious piece of mental play: succinct enough to adequately state my role as moral crusader extraordinaire, just long enough to dissuade people from wanting to type it out for themselves and thus formulate a [probably stupid] response. I'm just stupendous that way. After a while, you'll begin to feel it even looks better, even though both have been typed in the same font. Sometimes I think I'm just bloody awesome.

Malaysians must clear their own negativities

I am writing in response to Hassan Talib's letter titled "Africans must clear their own image" (yesterday's letters passim). He writes "unfortunately, good men of Africa...are the exceptions rather than the rule.", and goes on to say "Mention Africa and nothing positive comes to mind.". This is exactly the kind of blinkered, lazy and unfounded stereotyping that proves just how progressive and open-minded the average 'modern' Malaysian is.

Mr Talib has the audacity to generalise, not one country or two, but an entire continent. By Africans I assume he means Nigerians who are to us nothing more than scamming thieving gregarious thugs. Perhaps Mr Talib would like to take a look at his or somebody else's wedding ring, studded more than likely with a diamond which originated from South Africa. I assume Mr Talib has never been on safari in Kenya, or for that matter heard of Egypt. Maybe someone would like to mention to Mr Talib sub-Saharan Africa's role as the cradle of all mankind according to evolutionary theory, or point out the number of African football players currently playing in the English Premier League we Malaysians worship so much. But no, I guess it's true, no good does come out of Africa, those corrupted, mis-administrated, power-crazy, inept, war-mongering, dirt-poor, starving diseased people.

At the end of his letter Mr Talib attempts to use Malaysia as some sort of counterpoint, stating that we are lauded and admired by many African nations "for good governance and improving the quality of life of the ordinary people". Fair enough, perhaps, but then it doesn't justify the tar-brush Mr Talib, and I assume many other Malaysians, use to smear the African people. We, 25 million of us, with our cooking oil crises, snatch thieves, deforestation, 5.1% poverty and a broadband connection so shaky my Internet died twice before I could send this letter, have some cheek mis-labelling the entire continent of Africa. We have environmental issues. We have poverty issues. We have crime issues. We have political issues. We have a 0.4% AIDS prevalence rate (2005). In short we have everything the continent of Africa has, because that's what we are, another part of the world, another country. Yet we dare make comparisons? On what basis, that we are somewhat more well-run, developed, and pretty than most of Africa? That's short-sightedness.

As a Malaysian, I am as aware as any other of the types of Africans we are used to. We read and hear about the money-laundering and employment scams, and the occasional violence exacted by groups or individuals of expatriate Africans. But I fail to see how it is in any way justifiable to use that stick to beat an entire continent over the head with. We're not even talking about individuals or sub-groups here, we're talking about 900 million people in 53 countries covering 6% of the entire surface of the Earth! It is small-minded in the extreme to suggest the most that can come out of 15% of the world's population is a few "good men". How is it fair to assume that the whole of Africa, or even the entire country of Nigeria, for instance, is populated entirely by money-grabbing thieving hooligans? How do we expect to be able to progress or even call ourselves a globalised nation when we continue to harbour such blinkered views of the people around us?

Perusing the papers or the news channels we would of course hear of the bad hats, the criminals and evil-doers, and less of the kindred spirits. To assume against the entire populace based on that one perspective alone is frankly nonsensical, to say the least. Indeed without going into any implications, I find it deeply ironic and contradictory that Mr Talib can claim that he has spoken to Africans, obviously 'good' ones, when he concomitantly admits to harbouring a "negative opinion of them" in the very same sentence.

Let me make one thing clear, negative stereotyping isn't the fault of the Africans themselves. Africa isn't what we see on CNN or read about on the news. Every country, region and culture has its problems. They have their quirks and issues, we provide the stereotyping. The truth is we have a propensity to judge the world around us with coloured lenses. The fact is that in Malaysia a dear friend of mine cannot walk the streets in his Iron Maiden T-shirt without people gawking at him, that any lad with long hair is automatically a rebellious punkish troublemaker, that any young woman in a short skirt is loose or a China girl. I have come to know many Africans from all over the continent in my time as a foreign student, and from what I can tell they are like many of the world's other races, proud and confident about themselves. Perhaps we balk when we see a group of Africans in their hoodies strutting and talking loudly because we fear their confidence, just as how we so readily sneer upon similarly self-confident people.

It is one thing to maintain conservative values, and another to judge every other race on the basis of fear and what we derive from the news. Quite simply, the cover does not reflect the book; what we see and interpret of Africans, and indeed all other people around us, is not necessarily what they are. We have to stop this negative stereotyping of other people purely on the basis of what we think we know. I would even go so far as to say if I was accosted by Africans in the street I would not harbour resentment, purely on the basis that it simply does not represent the run and rule of the entire populace. We would do well to stop taking everyone at face value and recognise that sure, they may not be what we are, and yes, some of them are bad, but then no two people are the same. Perhaps then we can really progress as a respected nation, and not the "backward and hopeless country" the world apparently thought of us.

In Defence Of True Multiculturalism