In Malaysia, racism infects all groups

COMMENT | A few days ago, the bogus dentist, Nur Farahanis Ezzaty Adli who was jailed after being convicted by the Malacca Sessions Court of running an unregistered and unlicensed private dental clinic, apologised.

Pleading others to understand her situation as a young 19-year-old (at the time she started the con job) who knew nothing about the law, she claimed her ultimate focus was to make money, failing to consider the repercussions of her action.

Her statement actually contradicts the video she made soon after paying the RM70,000 fine which got her out of jail, where she was seen grinning ear to ear, arrogantly thanking those who criticised her -because they had brought her fame, making her richer and successful.

While I believe a con(wo)man is capable of saying whatever it takes to get themselves off the hook (also to help unhook those who have aided her along the way), I am more concerned about the attitude of ordinary Malaysians, especially the Malays regarding the case.

If you realised it, as I have, a great majority who have been lashing out at this bogus dentist appears to be the non-Malays. Why? Can’t the Malays see the seriousness of the crime committed by the young woman as have the non-Malays?

So I decided to browse through the streams of comments flooding the various social media platforms pertaining to this case, giving special attention to comments by the Malays. While I stumbled upon a few comments left by open-minded Malays who were capable of recognising the implications of the crime, there were some pea brain comments defending the bogus dentist...