Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka?

"I want to be fair. I am fair and I will always be fair." said Pak Lah. Of course, he cannot speak for his SIL who said this coming election is only for the Malay cause.

While we are preparing to celebrate our country's 50th Anniversary, I am drawn to reproduce 2 letters from Malaysiakini which I believe show what we have been through especially with the prolonged NEP.

Towards creating better battlefields
Thian H The, Melbourne Aug 17, 07

I have been worked up, for a very long time, over the many things wrong in Malaysia. When I was a boy growing up in Klang, I lived on a street with about half Chinese homes and half Indian ones. In school, however, my classroom was probably reflective of the racial distribution of the country, which was approximately 60% Malays, 30% Chinese and just under 10% Indians with the odd boy out who was English. I also remember an American who was of Italian descent.

For a long time, the idea of racial differences was non-existent as I played the games boys played then, with boys of all races. In the classroom, there would be the usual competition to top the class and such competition came from all races. I have my usual suspects who were my competitors for ‘First Boy’ and these came from all races.

Sure, the Malay guy gunning for first spot would leverage against his superiority in the Malay language and the Chinese boy would have to pull his strength from the other subjects, usually mathematics. The Indian boy usually does well in English but everyone had a fair shot to top the class.

Racial differences simply did not register then, at least not in any significant or bigoted way.

Then, very slowly, we were made to feel and experience the differences. The Malay boy could get into a select school (usually in the capital) a lot more easily than the rest of us, even though we all did equally well. There were schools only Malays could get into. There were also scholarships only Malays could apply for. Yet, there was no ill feeling. The only sentiment was one of slight unease but I was happy to just move along and do my thing.

When I was in university in Sydney however, I started to slog really hard for my keeps. I had to work several jobs at any one time, to make sure I could pay the rent and not go hungry, as well as contribute as much as I could towards my university fees. By the time I finished my degrees five years later, I had made my family poorer by about RM20,000. I had from my earnings, saved almost that same amount, which I used for my airfare back to Malaysia and to start my new life back there. Soon however, I realised I had to battle again.

Getting a job, buying a home, investing, applying for anything from local, state or federal government, all these major areas of day-to-day life showed up the preferential treatments that the bumiputeras received. It was still okay, because I had my job, earned my promotions, made my investments, and established my network of friends and professional relationships. I generally lived life and enjoyed it.

I could not, however, eliminate the effect of being a victim of discrimination. It built up over time. Initially it was just a sense of annoyance and occasional snide remark by me or someone else against it. As it became more and more in your face, the effect escalated.

Many things change when you have a child. As a parent you start to think ahead a lot more. You start to think not just about the battles you have to wage, but also how to equip your child for the battles she has to wage as she grows up and goes through life.

As a parent, I no longer just get annoyed or even angry at injustices and inequitable policies. I start to think about how these injustices and inequitable policies would handicap my child’s battles. Life can be hard enough without these issues. If the energy spent on dealing with these matters could be channeled elsewhere, how much more productive, beneficial and therefore edifying our efforts and work would be.

How then do I minimise the incidence of having my child battle these fronts, and how do I create better battlefields for her? By exercising my voting rights? I voted in two elections. Both saw the BN win huge victories. In one of them, I worked for an opposition party. Starting from Lim Guan Eng’s arrest in 1996, I started being active in engaging in social and political causes.

All along, I worked in the corporate financial sector. I saw how government officials used racial discriminatory policies to enrich themselves and their friends and relatives. I saw how political and business leaders ‘worked together’.

I knew then where my child’s battlefield lies. It wasn’t in the country I grew up in. Not when the racist policies would continue. Not when the religious bigotry has started to take on very dangerous proportions. We left Malaysia three years ago.

It was a difficult rebuilding process. Our wealth here is only worth one third of what it was in Malaysia. Factor that into the higher standards of living here and we are no where near where we were in Malaysia. Professionally, my wife and I had to start again as well. From head of departments hiring and firing, we are now minnows seeking to be hired and avoid being fired.

We worked and struggled all over again to re-establish our lives. We have had to move house twice in three years in search of equilibrium in terms of commuting, schools and neighbourhoods.

After so many years of anger however, I now think perhaps Malaysia needs prayers more than angry dissent. The present leadership has not demonstrated a willingness to listen, be reasonable and work things out. They have chosen to be belligerent and defensive, even lie. Against this, the ordinary Malaysian’s approach cannot be more speeches and articles and calls for public meetings. These would only fall on deaf ears.

You cannot reason with people with such a stance. The ordinary Malaysian would think the cost of a confrontational approach too costly and dangerous and would therefore let things fester a lot longer before acting. I have decided therefore to pray a lot harder for Malaysia. I hope some of you will join me.


I bade my son farewell today
A Father's Yoke Jul 16, 07

My son, Ryan, who is 18, left to further his studies in Australia today. He goes to embark on his tertiary studies at a reputed university - ordinarily, something to be proud of. However, it was more sadness than pride that ruled the day.

I have pondered many a time as to why we come to a point where it is like tossing your child out of a flaming or sinking ship. We have many universities here, yet we have to sacrifice so much to send them abroad. Why? Thanks to the politicised education system, it is not in his interest to study here - even when we are now a global village.

Many nations who lagged behind us have closed the gap or gone ahead. Had he gone through the local universities, his mobility in terms of employability worldwide would be seriously curtailed. The major corporations in Malaysia generally prefer the foreign graduates - especially those from ranked universities.

The polarisation that is systemic ensures that his circle of friends more likely would be non-Malay or non-Muslim. This would be a major disadvantage in a multi-cultural society - increasingly the trend in many progressive countries. When I was a student in the 70s, our friendships were not determined by our race or religion. In fact, in many cases, we got to know our friends' ethnic origins many years later when they got married and we attended their wedding ceremonies.

In today's increasingly common parlance, I am reminded repeatedly that I am a third generation 'pendatang'. My son therefore will be the fourth - one who like me, speaks only English and Malay. ‘Pendatang’ nonetheless. Scholarships by and large are a mirage for folk like us. Just like crumbs and morsels that fall off a dining table.

So what are we griping about in the land of blue skies and 'ais kachang'? Our land of blue skies could and should have been a land of milk, honey and plenty. Instead, we have increasingly unfettered corruption, polarisation, degeneration of our education system right from Standard 1 to full blown chaos at the tertiary level.

The perception of fair play as played out in the judiciary gives one little to look forward to in seeking justice. Our sports achievements - barring a few rare exceptions - have seen a massive slide. Even this has been politicised. From a feared soccer nation, we are now below Singapore and Thailand. Sportsmen sell out on their honour and country. Wonder who they learnt this from. From multi-racial teams for soccer, hockey and rugby, we put out almost homogenous teams today. The results speak for themselves.

When my son is ready to join the job market, the civil service would not even be a considered option. Turn back the clock about 50 years and one sees the stark difference - when the best brains competed to join the service.

So, as a 'pendatang', my advice to others like me is that you cherish and value the limited time you have with your children because unlike others, you are not guaranteed the opportunity to be at their side - or even a short distance behind - to see that they don’t tumble along life's walkway.

When they are packed off at 18, the chances of them returning is so much less. The plus side is that as parents, we know that we have given them the opportunity to make their best shot for the years to come. Farewell son, the grass may not be greener on the other side, but the skies are more blue. And even if the grass is not greener, it is grass you can stand on with your head held high.

God Bless.