How communities can combat racism hate and extremism

[Music]

[Applause]

what

killed 11 jews in a synagogue

in u.s last year

what killed 51 muslims

in a mosque in christchurch this year

what killed 259

christians during easter holiday

in a church in sri lanka this year

what killed them is not the bomb

it’s not the gun what killed them

what killed them was a silent

a far more deadlier weapon

what killed them was prejudice

what killed this people was prejudice

in the name of islamophobia

anti-semitism

xenophobia terrorism

what killed them was an extreme

manifestation

of prejudice prejudice

which anyone else might carry

prejudice which some of us face

prejudice is a common human experience

when we don’t know someone enough and

they’re different from us

we form preconceived opinions

we would based on whatever information

we have come up with an idea

of who they could be when we

are only fed with negative information

we project negative attitudes

negative feeling that

is prejudice that vacuum

relationship of not knowing enough

not wanting to know enough that vacuum

relationship

develops prejudice i had an experience

about four years ago i was in a taxi

and we went for some distance at a

traffic light stop

the taxi driver asked this question that

took me back

he asked me if i know how to make bombs

i couldn’t believe what he asked

i couldn’t believe that that happened to

me

in singapore my country

known worldwide for racial and religious

harmony

there is a man who asked me if i know

how to make bombs

bombs that killed people

i replied back immediately i was angry i

replied to him

i do know how to make do you want to

learn how to make one too

he smirked before i could reply to him

my sister tapped on me

asked me to calm down so that we can go

home

safely and peacefully but

i was furious my mind was crackling with

questions why why did he ask me that

question

was it funny for him was it amusing

did he not know that it was

inconsiderate

was it because i was wearing a scarf

the very disturbing question was it

islamophobic question

over the years whenever i do my hash

piece programs i would share about this

with people

everyone felt that he was ignorant and

it wasn’t islam of a big question

but you see he’s not the only one

15.6 of respondents from the institute

of policy study survey

find muslims somewhat or very

threatening

15.6 of my population

might fear muslims

why what is so scary about a person like

me

researchers say that this association of

muslims with global terror

is a fear that has set in many people

and when they

lack the exposure and don’t have the

opportunity to know

muslims especially muslims like me

better that fear

remains unchallenged

they walk around thinking that people

like me will blow them up

fifteen point six percent of people

might think like that

how do we resolve this what can we do

about it

martin buber scholar theologian

philosopher

he has this idea of genuine dialogue

which is what started me

to to start my hash peace movement

genuine dialogue it’s not a conversation

it’s not a talk

genuine dialogue is

probably a solution that is effective

to clear away prejudice from people let

me share with you

before tweenie before october this year

you would never find me in a photo like

that

i absolutely resisted and disliked being

in a room with women who wear face wheel

even though we are from the same

religion it made me very uncomfortable

they were different from me and that

difference is not okay with me

i’m not comfortable and from the little

that i know about them i thought they

were conservative

they were narrow-minded and to them

women like me

not good women

so i i would i would avoid it

but this year as part of our hashps

program i had an opportunity to have an

audience with some students from islamic

institute in india

so i visited them and then i was told

that face

veil would be part of the dress code and

i was like no way

i think i should back out but that’s the

purpose of the work i do

to step into such zones i went

about three hours i was surprised at who

i met

that room has orators as poets

as web designers

i changed my opinion about them they had

such strong

individualistic view some of them have

very strong political views as well

moderate politicals we saw eye to eye

beyond that cloth

my prejudice changed into a positive

feeling

because of that dialogue i could create

with that

that genuine dialogue requires

a very important aspect that is a

relationship that we establish

now if i had walked into that room

and thought of those women as the muslim

women wearing face calf

i would have been the other in the room

the one

not wearing the face cuff

so how could i connect with them i saw

them as someone who likes to travel

as someone who also appreciates poem i

found

that connecting link that

in between that allowed me to create a

dialogue with them

but it’s not so easy

because genuine dialogue requires honest

relationship

for you to have honest relationship you

need to admit and

face the very factor that divides this

group of people

the elephant in this room is not

the choice of clothing what

actually divided us what made me

uncomfortable with women like that

it is the difference in disagreement in

the

philosophy of modesty

we did not agree on that aspect which is

why we could never come together

i had to face that i had to walk into

the room

knowing who i am and that allowed me and

they were very welcoming of me

i didn’t feel uncomfortable at all i was

wrong all this illusion i had about them

went away but you see establishing that

relationship is also quite difficult

let me share with you a very challenging

time i had

the muslim community is divided into

many branches and

two main branches are this sunni and

shia muslims i come from the dominant

sunnish

muslims category and when i was invited

to meet a group of sham muslims

i was not so sure if that’s a good idea

to do

you see same same different is easy to

handle

same same not same very difficult very

confusing

i was like if this was the group that i

was taught to

hate this was the group of people

i was told a deviant from our belief

they were not us they do not follow what

we do

and i was told we do not use the word

shah and muslim in the same sentence

these were the views that were engrained

in me for over 30 years

how do i unwire this and walk into a

room

and engage with these people will

talking to them

make me acceptance of the deviance will

i become wrong

will people in my community accept me

will i be kicked out

so many questions so many fear so much

of worry

but i went i sat in i couldn’t agree

with a lot of things

because what i believe is what i believe

but i could engage with them i met

mothers i met brothers

i met people who liked the same food and

we managed to establish

a sort of a trust yes we disagree we

still disagree

we didn’t change what we believe in but

yet we could

engage our trust level i walked out

knowing that

should something happen should some

threat happen to our social harmony i

know these people would stand with me

but it was difficult it’s mentally

exhausting

to be able to unwire yourself and rewire

yourself

and engineer yourself to be in such

situations

and listen to people you have been told

to disagree

and you did disagree

but how do we overcome that

over the years from all the dialogues

and the conversations that i had

i realized this two characteristics if

developed

could help with this confidence

and courage

confidence my mother always said if you

were confident

about who you are if you

know what you believe in you’re clear

in your thought of what shapes you you

can walk into any room

you can go anywhere and not be worried

about the external factors that will

falter you

that confidence when i walked into the

room

with women who wear face veil i was very

confident that my choice

was a good choice i made that choice i

was very confident

nothing will threaten me nothing nothing

will make me question

that confidence takes years takes

comfort

you need to be comfortable with yourself

courage when i

accepted the invitation from the muslims

and i went to meet them

i told myself i will take anything that

comes at me for doing so

i will face any criticism

any sarcasm any consequences

for doing so because i know i had to do

this

i had a prejudice i need to resolve it

so i courageously made up my mind

to take whatever comes now without that

courage you will not be able to sit

through situations

which require you to change your

perspective of people

who are very different from you and you

don’t agree with

so confidence and courage helps you

to overcome the elephants in the room

the wrong ideas in the room

the misconceptions and it will help you

find that middle ground the common space

where you can engage with that you see

dialogue genuine dialogue is not

a process it’s an outcome that outcome

requires you to establish a relationship

and for that we need to work towards it

we need to take effort can you imagine

if this

micro level dialogues that i had with

just two

encounters are scaled up if

everyone could take an effort can you

imagine the impact it would have

on the racial religious harmony all my

dialogues all my interactions took about

three hours

three hours and that three hours i

changed my opinion

about women who wears face male i

changed my opinion

about a group that for over 30 years i

was told to hate and avoid

just three hours now if every one of us

could just spend that three hours

that three hours will let us decide if

we live in harmony

or healed just

three hours thank you

[Applause]

you