Éclectique

DISCLAIMER: This article is in no way researched and is wholly anectodal, relying exclusively on my personal experiences and what I have gathered over the years I spent growing up in Malaysia. In light of the recent London attacks, I felt compelled to pen this short article.  I have said multiple times that the problem isn't with the religion, but with the people.  And that is true.  Up to a point. Violence and hate isn't born out of thin air.  It is taught, it is indoctrinated.  And where does this indoctrination come from?  Sadly, the scholars, khatibs [1] and imams, the leaders of our religious institutions, the men who we trust to know the religion inside out.  Sadly, some of these men are the ones who will condemn terrorism and extremism, yet fail to realize their impassioned sermons convey the opposite message. Back home in Malaysia, I never miss a Friday prayer.  There are so many mosques and the employers allow their Muslim staff to...

I was inspired to write this after reading an article by my friend, Qyira, who is currently working with Teach for Malaysia.  TFM is an organization dedicated to engaging the youth in teaching future generations, to bridge gaps due to circumstance and to give back to society through education. At the end of the article, she talks about how one of the students she interacted with had concerns about her future.  She was concerned that the stream she was in had no future options.  Another was worried that her passion for sports had no viable future.  This to me, highlighted an issue I've noticed since I was in high school.  Even with my privileged upbringing, mastery of English, and overseas-educated parents, I was also lost and confused, but over why there seemed to be so few options. Almost every university that came to give a talk, every school program to help students determine a future path was focused heavily on either law, medicine, engineering, busines...