UNITY

My brother had always complained that it was impossible for him to beat his friend, Andy,
who is Chinese, in Maths. His logic was, and I quote: “Well, you know, the Chinese are
always good in Maths. The chance we have in beating them is 0%.” Unquote. This is the
common misconception we often perceive about different races. We fail to see the strong
points these other races possess that should be shared and nurtured to ultimately gain
harmony in our country. The strength is to be shared, not envied.

A very good morning to the wise and honourable judges, respected timekeeper, teachers, and
members of the floor. My name is Mohd Zarith, and I will be delivering a speech entitled
“Unity”.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Unity is not merely a word but a force that binds us together, transcending our differences
and forging a shared destiny. With our multicultural society, we repeatedly demonstrated the
strength that comes from embracing diversity and fostering unity among us.

Malaysia is blessed with a multitude of ethnicities, each with its distinct language, customs,
and heritage where we coexisted for generations and built a harmonious society that sets an
example for the world, but if we keep labelling certain races to be better or worse than us, do
you think we can be harmonious? Of course, we can’t! We can’t live harmoniously in our
multi-racial country if we keep on seeing other people’s strengths as a threat. The crux of this
matter is that this theory that certain races are good or bad in certain things has been
embedded in our minds since we were young. We fix the same assumptions for the respective
races because we’ve been raised in a closed mindset by the previous generation, which has
also been presented like so with the generation before that. Crippled by the xenophobia
instilled in our ancestor’s blood from ages ago, rooted by confused feelings during invasions
in our country, we did not see those of other races as individuals but as a member of an
ethnicity exclusively.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Sadly, a handful of groups are still culturally ignorant, seeing foreign cultures as alien and
sometimes comical, thus widening the gap between races. We need to understand and respect
other’s cultures and practices, as being insensitive to them may cause them to be offended
and create a massive division between the many races of this fine nation. We live in a multi–
cultural society, and there is a reason why Malaysians have open houses during their
respective festive times of the year: to share their culture with everyone else! After talking so
much about our fear and prejudices toward other races, what exactly should we do? Being
Malaysians, especially the young generation like me, we should share one common identity:
being tolerant of each other.

Unity in Malaysia is not just about coexistence; it is about embracing inclusivity and creating
equal opportunities for all to ensure that every Malaysian, regardless of their race, religion, or
socio-economic status, has an equal chance to succeed and contribute to the development of
our nation. As I have mentioned, we are so used to labelling certain races to certain traits,
which occurs almost everywhere, at school, the workplace or in the community. As the
younger generation, we should make the changes. We should put a halt to this! To continue
living in unity, we should look at our Chinese, Indian, Malay, Kadazan, or Iban friends as the
resources to progress and gain harmony in our country. No more saying that Andy is
unbeatable in Maths. Instead, he is our best buddy in learning the subject. They can also learn
from me something that I’m good at, which is the arts. By practising this, not only that we
improve ourselves in certain fields, but we also help our country to prosper by optimizing
each and every one’s strength. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and
we, the young generation, should initiate the journey. We should dare to make a difference.
We should stop the dissemination of racial labelling. Our generation should not keep this
closed–minded attitude going on. We need to instil this unity in our generation now and onto
the next. We should approach and embrace each other openly without any misconceptions
created by prejudices.

Ladies and gentlemen,

When we stand united, we are stronger. We can overcome any challenge that comes our way,
be it economic, social, or environmental. Unity empowers us to tackle poverty, inequality,
and climate change with unwavering determination and collective action. All of us, regardless
of race, culture, or religion, share the same basic things as human beings. In fact, 99.9% of
our DNAs are shared, with 0.1% being the difference in physical appearance and personality.
Do not see this 0.1% as a barrier; instead, treat it like a puzzle piece. One puzzle piece is
unique but will turn into a beautiful picture when combined with other puzzle pieces. We are
all unique but also one, as the human race and a country. Thank you.