Most of my trips to Australia had been for debate tournaments. To be perfectly frank, I had always harboured a rather negative view of Australia & Australians.
Maybe it's the competitive spirit, maybe it's the effect of exhaustion of debate preparations, maybe it's the primal drive for success... But I had witnessed their worst behaviour and for some reason, I had allowed those examples to taint my good judgment.
I've had Aussie debaters treat us like we're 'stupid-Asians'.
There were those who refused to accept that they had lost to 'stupid-Asians' and made a big fuss over it.. whining and cursing and bitching to everyone.
There were Aussie judges who slept through our speeches and awarded the win to the opposing team who just happened to be their drinking buddies.
There were those who ignored our friendly overtures and excluded us from conversations.
Those who segregated the Asians in our living quarters.. giving us rooms miles away from their own.
Once, me and my friend Nadia asked two Aussie boys for directions to our hotel and they put us on a tram... to the zoo.
All this gave me great, sinful pleasure in triumphing over them in debates and some of us even went to the extent of smilingly saying "Memang kau ni bodoh" to their faces because we knew they'd have no idea what that meant.
I don't intend to excuse my behaviour or my feelings. And I must say that I have some lovely Aussie friends, but I really DID generally harbour negative feelings towards them.
But I just came back from a family vacation in Sydney. No competition, no debate prep, no primal need for winning. And for once, I have to admit that I was wrong. (This is a very rare occurence, I'm one of those
Australia is a lovely country and Australians aren't that bad. Notice that I didn't say that they're WONDERFUL, it's just that they're not the meanies I had previously perceived them to be.
And because my poision-tinted glasses came off, I was able to think in retrospect, about the nice Aussies that I had met during my debating days.
The two funky Aussies (with pink hair and a million studs in their ear, nose, lips, navel etc) who gushed over a particularl speech I had made.
The Aussies who were so accomodating and wonderful in making sure that we had a lovely halal feast for our meals.
The Aussies who made it a point to sit with us during downtime to ask about Malaysia and about Muslims.
Those who skipped the driking binge to hang-out with us outside the pub during break-night (the night when results are announced).
Those who kept in touch with us despite us leaving the debate scene for so many years.
And because of this belated reminiscing, I found myself biting my lips in shame.
I had always hated Mat Saleh's who condescendingly viewed Asians as slitty-eyed-idiots who can't speak proper English. But I myself had been guilty of succumbing to the subtle nuances of bigotry.
Shame on me.
It's amazing how a person's state of mind can colour his perceptions... Let's hope I never don those poison-tinted glasses ever again.
And if I ever do, let's hope a koala slaps me in the face and I regain my senses.
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