colourblindness

[240406] almost burst out laughing at a 7-Eleven cashier - looked exactly like someone e cat used to be with....same height (katek cat had to crane its neck at e same angle), same eyes, same hairstyle, skin e same shade of brown, similar specs, but much scrawnier & in need of a good shave *LOL* name on his nametag = Luqman....religion different =P

imagine taking a photo of both of them standing together side by side....long-lost twins? what if e Luqman's parents bump into someone? or if someone's parents bump into Luqman? what would their reactions be? *LOL*

until now e cat still thinks that Thai, Malay & some Indonesian guys (& that Cambodian it met at an SIF dinner) are far better looking than Chinese specimens. & Malay guys (& girls) are more likely to be cat-friendly =) & many have beautiful non-sepet eyes. & many Indian guys have great eyelashes - one such guy used to compare eyelash length with e cat, & he understood what it is like to keep getting eyelashes stuck in e eyes =P

one of e first guys e cat thought was really good looking was a Malay track & field senior in primary school. parents totally freaked out when e little 'colourblind' kitten listed Erfan, Fadzil, Fairuz, Taufik, Mohd Hisham, etc as its friends (all either track team mates or neighbours *grin*). e Chinese-educated staunchly-atheist dad also had this big fat phobia that e cat would run away & marry an Indian &/or a Christian (& that another daughter would marry an Iranian) =P well they can enjoy worrying all they want *evil grin*

e cat has wondered a lot about how its parents' & grandparents' generations have done their part in instilling racism in today's youths....once upon a many a times, e cat's generation has been accused of a lack of sensitivity to other races, taking racial harmony for granted, etc....by e very elders who belong to e generation that taught us terms like 'kalinga'/'ka1-leng3-kia4', 'mangkali', 'huang nang'/'huang1 kia4' & 'cham1 zeng4' (lit. 'mixed planting' = 'mixed breed' - a term e cat feels is super duper derogatory), who tell their kids not to play/share toys with kids from other races....who is e one setting a negative example here? *indignance*

e Chinese have e whole lot of stereotypes of e others....Malays: corrupt ma1 ta2 (police), drug abusers & teen pregnancies....Indians: toddy drinkers & wife beaters who run around coconut trees....but somehow seem unable to take a good look at themselves - Chinese: gamblers (problem that has plagued 3 generations of e cat's extended family & persists till this day) who play mahjong & clash cymbals at funerals, loansharks & grass-killing incense burners who place oranges at weird corners & coat pavements with red candle wax....though likewise there are probably Malays/Indians/Others (e silly CMIO pigeonholing system) who similarly have stereotypes of others - maybe it is simply a human foible to disparage others without taking a good look at oneself?

maybe adults have all forgotten what they learnt in kindergaten: point finger at others, 3 fingers point back at you! ;)

[ to be continued some day.... ]

[ filed under: thewonderingstraycat ]