It's like running a marathon. You start the journey with unwavering willpower, confidence and the fullest energy. And then when you're stuck somewhere in the middle, in this long, tiring, endless journey, you start to lose sight of your destination. But when you start to see that finishing line, a sudden burst of energy from nowhere just take you over; you just want to spring your legs and dart across that final stretch. The best part? You get to see who's truly there cheering you on at the finishing line. Sweet.
This is difficult to write, but it's definitely an important one amidst all the conversations we've been having lately. Growing up being brown/Malay wasn't easy, especially when it became ingrained in me that having a darker skin tone by default, is less desired than fairer skin tones. In childhood, I couldn't recall having to endure comments about my skin colour. Thankfully amongst children, these values ascribed to lightness and darkness didn't yet come to the fore. This consciousness became more obvious since secondary school. And it was tough and painful. I've been in a sports CCA since secondary school and I couldn't really avoid not becoming tanned. What hurts the most was even my peers at that time would make comments about my skin colour without even realising the damage caused from these words. These comments I recall, were sometimes made under the guise of humour. I was called 'budak hitam' (literally means 'black child') and even ...
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