Discrimination

Have you ever dreamed that you could win 20 million dollars in a game show? Maybe you think it's quite impossible for an ordinary person like you or me to do that. But, that is what we see in the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, in which a street guy who wins 20 million rupees in the television game show called "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".

The questions in the show are so difficult that even the experts, professors, doctors and lawyers can't answer them. And yet, Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai can do it! A self confessed non-genius who grew up in the poorest of Mumbai can do something that those who are brighter, more educated and wealthier have failed to do. The host of the show doubts his ability because of his background. Then he is sent to be questioned and tortured by the police. Jamal reveals that each chapter of his life story shows the answers to the questions asked in the show. Watching Jamal's experience, I realize that discrimination does exist when we all think it should not.

Maybe some of those who are born and raised in Hong Kong think that they have never done anything to discriminate against anyone. Rationally speaking, they know that each of us has our own stories of life. We all encounter our life in a unique way. So there should not be any discrimination among us. We shouldn't judge a person by his or her background. However, when we think deeper, do you know that 1/7 of the people suffer from poverty in HK? Most of them are migrants from the mainland China, and some are from South East Asia and the Middle East. Although you did not do anything bad against them, but are you interested to understand their lives?

Discrimination occurs because of cultural differences, lifestyle differences and value differences. If we don’t try to understand each other more, if we don’t put our feet in other’s shoes, we are bound to be discriminative. Discrimination exists because of human’s ignorance.

Is it possible to eradicate discrimination? The answer is yes! I think LOVE can conquer it. It’s because if we have love, we are willing to care for each other. If we care for each other, we will learn that each of us has our value. If we know that we are all valuable, we’ll cherish each other. If we cherish each other, we will not discriminate against each other. Then our world will be more beautiful.

By Doris Wong