LETTER | Certain folks were rankled up with racial chauvinism and indignation when a local box-office movie depicted their race as villainous and sly.

Oddly, they have no trouble or likely cheering for the Hollywood ”white saviour” shooting up the "bad" guys in Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Somalia, Guatemala, Panama, etc.

Think “Rambo”, “Black Hawk Down”, “Green Berets”, etc where non-Caucasian “enemies” are portrayed as evil and murderous.

The movie Black Hawk Down “whitewashed” the rescue of American soldiers by Malaysian soldiers. There is no reference to this dangerous rescue which resulted in the death of one Malaysian soldier and seven wounded.

Where was the outcry in any of these “white saviour” movies fighting Asian, Arabic and African “evil bad guys”?

As to the use of Indian soldiers by the British to quell uprisings or keep the peace, look no further than last year's controversial Timah whiskey.

Hired by Raja Muda Abdullah to regain the Perak sultanate, captain Speedy brought in 110 Indian Sepoy soldiers with guns and subdued the warring Chinese factions and Malay chiefs in Larut and then established his own court in Taiping.

Indians including Sikhs served in the British Indian Army in the time of the British Empire and were used to enforce law and order and quell rebellions and wars in colonial states.

Indian soldiers were used against their own people during the fight for Indian independence.

The Chinese, having had their fill of betrayal from amongst themselves, coined a term called “running dog”, meaning an unprincipled person who helps or flatters those more powerful and often evil.

The Portuguese conquest of Malacca was aided by Chinese and Indian traders. Later Johor rulers helped the Dutch drive out the Portuguese and this started the decline of Malacca as a trading post as the Dutch favoured Batavia (Jakarta).

All three major races are actors in the nation’s history. We cannot simply vilify or rubbish certain portrayers or scenes just because we are shown in a negative light in the media.

No single person or race in the world is without its share of villains, thieves, and murderers.

No one can be held accountable for the actions of their ancestors, but we must learn from them and move on to be better.

Our ancestors, apart from fear, greed, and power, may have acted out of circumstances beyond their control or it was the zeitgeist of their time.

We must not forget their evils and endeavour not to repeat this history.

Germany's example of not forgetting the Holocaust has made a stronger and more inclusive European Union.

Evil is not inborn in anyone's DNA, it is a manifestation of our environment, education, love or lack of it, and upbringing.

Manipulation and brainwashing of thoughts through propaganda and currently, social media can too bear malevolence.

Knowing fact from fiction and the grey areas which are exploited for nefarious or commercial gains would help us refrain from knee-jerk resentment and being stooges for malicious manipulators.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.