Regulations, laws prevent racial discrimination: Expert

The Sun
Karen Arukesamy

KUALA LUMPUR (June 17, 2009) : Regulations and laws are important to prevent racial discrimination and disharmony, said British race relations expert Professor Dr Aneez Esmail.

Race relations expert and medical practitioner in University of Manchester Prof. Dr. Aneez Esmail who spoke
about his experience in fighting against racism in Britain at the public forum Race Relations:The British Experience, organised by Institute of Ethnic studies (Kita) UKM.

"The Race Relations Act (RRA) in Britain was very essential at the time it was enacted in 1976 and it helped a great deal to come to where we are right now," he said in a public forum "Race Relations: The British Experience" on Tuesday at the Malaysian Integrity Institute.

Aneez, a former student activist who is now professor of medicine and associate vice-president for equality and diversity in University of Manchester, said although Britain was still a long way from fully achieving good race relations, "I am glad that it is already on its journey towards it".

"The Act created a framework in which this debate on race relations can take place. It created a framework in which we assessed how effective government policies were implemented," he said, adding that in order to monitor the situation, laws have to be put in place.

Saying his life was shaped by racism, Aneez told the audience of more than 300 people how his personal experience made him a leading campaigner on racial equality in Britain.

At 13, he and his family, were expelled from Uganda by dictator Idi Amin in 1972, simply because they had a different skin colour. He arrived in Britain as a refugee.

"Even though I was a British qualified doctor, but in order to get to where I am today, I had to work harder than any other colleague," he said, referring to racism in the National Health Service which he exposed in a study.

"There used to be notices in boarding houses which read ‘No blacks, No dog’’, ‘No Irish’, ‘No Asians’.

"I don’t think it was because the British were racists but more because of uncertainties. And the uncertainties were exploited by political parties that thought they would gain some sort of benefit," he said.

"Before the Act was enacted, it was legal to put an advertisement in the professional medical journals to say only British, aka White doctors, need apply for the job."

He said the RRA made it illegal to discriminate publicly and indirectly and protected people against racial discrimination.

"It gave me the freedom and security to say that if someone discriminated against me, I had some legal recourse to take against them. It was not much and was difficult to do but it gave me some security," he said.

The forum, organised by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Institute of Ethnic Studies, was attended by more than 300 people from NGOs, corporate bodies, police officers, civil servants, university students and school heads and principals.

Aneez observed there was a huge desire for Malaysians to speak and discuss the issue but they felt the constraints.

"I got a hint from the people that they feel their debates are constrained and perhaps harmed by the politicians and that is a message to the politicians," he said.

He said there should be affirmative action in encouraging debates and open discussions about issues like this.

He stressed debates on race relations should never be constricted to "singular identities" for it would create categorisation and fixed ideas about the people with certain identities.

"If people give themselves and others a singular identity, we’ll never get beyond that to appreciate the diversity and complexity of each person’s identity," he said, adding that people developed "multiple identities" as they grow.

"You are never just a Malay or Chinese (Malaysian). A rich Malay is different from a poor Malay, who would have more in common with a poor Chinese or a poor Indian (Malaysian)," he said.

Aneez urged Malaysians to have "mutual respect and honest debates" and not to be "passive victims" or there would be too much to lose.