‘Interracial marriages promote multicultural understanding’

KUCHING: Here in the Land of the Hornbills, mixed marriages are part of everyday life and culture.

“The celebration of diversity in Sarawak, why people can live and eat together, is partly because of mixed marriages.

“It’s what makes us who we are,” said Assoc Prof Dr Poline Bala from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s social sciences and humanities faculty.

“For example, if you go to the Bidayuh villages, the Bidayuh and Chinese have been intermarrying for generations.

“Similarly, the Kayan and Kenyah have been marrying between themselves.”

Mixed marriages, she added, has historically been a trend in Sarawak and would continue.

Poline said that mixed marriages were good for Malaysia and should be celebrated, as they could help overcome racial and religious divisions.

“In the context of Malaysian politics, people are becoming narrow-minded and wanting to keep to themselves.

“But if you come from a mixed heritage, you learn to negotiate these things.

“You learn to appreciate differences as something to be celebrated rather than seeing them as obstacles.

“Mixed marriages are like an antidote to the poisonous politics of us versus them,” she added.

Monash University social anthropology Assoc Prof Yeoh Seng Guan said interracial marriages would help build social cohesion among Malaysians and promote multicultural understanding.

“It also shows that they marry out of love and that they want to spend their lives together.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” he asked.

Yeoh said that the obstacle to interracial marriages was perhaps due to personal family cultural barriers.

He added that he was in support of those who marry out of choice and out of love.

Cultural activist Eddin Khoo said the rise in interracial marriages in the country showed that society was opening up.

“The fact that there is a steady increase through the years is positive and inspiring.

“I think it is a sign that people are not held back anymore by racial identity issues.”

Khoo noted that marriages involved the heart, adding that it was mainly a “love issue”.

The celebration of diversity in Sarawak, why people can live and eat together, is partly because of mixed marriages.

Poline Bala