A doctor recently wrote on Facebook about an elderly accident victim rejecting her assistance because he could do without the help of a “Keling.” She said the man, a Malay, softened up after she told him she was a doctor. The anecdote attracted a lot of attention from the media and the general public.

The kind of racism that Malaysians are most aware of is the kind that is visible, the kind that is loud and perhaps dressed in red. But our doctor’s story presents a different kind, the kind that hides behind smiles and is vocalised only behind walls.

It is the kind that is shaped by practical considerations. It is harboured by people who live in the cities, who are likely to have neighbours of different races and, most important, who require services that can be provided only by community members who are not of their own race.

So they go about their daily lives with a practised smile and gritted teeth, exchanging greetings and pleasantries that they do not mean, and removing the facade of civility only when they are back within the confines of their own homes, or among their own race. Only then will you see their true colours. They’ll grumble about having to give money to someone of a different race as compensation for services rendered and complain about having to be at the behest of an “inferior” race.

But sometimes the disguise slips off. This was what happened to our accident victim. Perhaps the accident disoriented him and he lost his bearing for a while.

However, these days there are many who cannot even be bothered to pretend that they are not racist.
They resent having to buy electronic devices from stores owned by people of another race. So they make up stories about being cheated and start accosting handphone store clerks and opening electronic trade centres exclusive to businessmen of a particular race.

If they are Malay, they cannot bear the idea of paying a non-Malay for food. So they start spreading social media rumours questioning the halal status of certain food products, all under the guise of religious observance.

Pretty soon, the elderly man and his kind will start insisting on being treated only by Malay or Muslim doctors. “Non-Muslim doctors may have touched dogs and pigs and will taint Muslim patients when treating them.” That’s one excuse they can use and it’s given free with this article.