In a Facebook post on Sept 22, Yang Kaiheng shared that he was “surprised” to see his cousin playing a board game with three migrant workers on the front porch of his aunt’s house when he visited recently.

Apparently, it had been pouring at the time and they were waiting for the rain to stop.

What stood out to Yang was that his cousin appeared unconcerned by the “irrational but common fears” that many people have in light of the high number of coronavirus cases in foreign worker dorms.

“She had no hesitation making friends with the workers and it did not bother her at all that they looked different to her. All that mattered were that they were friendly and willing to play games with her,” he wrote. 

Yang said he later found out that the foreign workers were engaged for a project at his aunt’s house —  and have been working there for over a few weeks. 

“My youngest cousin has been regularly interacting with them, offering them drinks and playing board games with them during their breaks,” he shared. 

They have in fact gotten pretty close such that his cousin now calls the workers by their names.

Yang later learned from their interaction that his cousin reminded one of the workers of his young daughter whom he misses back home, as both girls are of similar ages. 

From their friendship, Yang shared his own reflections stating that prejudice towards another is not innate  —  just like what he observed in his cousin. Rather, it is “learned subconsciously through the media or our own experiences”.

He highlighted the importance of teaching the younger generation kindness, which “will go a long way”.

As a parent himself, Yang hopes to have the discipline to ingrain these positive values in his son.

This article was first published in theAsianparent.