By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah today criticised Malaysians who have emigrated, saying it was “wrong” and insinuating that they were betraying the sacrifices of their forefathers.
Husni, who is second finance minister, explained that “our forefathers” settled here because they believed that their children would have a future in Malaysia.
“You and me, our children, we build our lives here and we have our homes here. This is our homeland. I get very sad when I hear we have people migrating to foreign shores. To me, this is wrong.
“Our forefathers have come here, many years ago, bearing much hardship and deprivation. Why did they endure this? Because they believed that their future generations will reap the fruits of having to live on this blessed land,” he said in his speech when launching the Annual Real Estate Agent Convention 2010 at PWTC here.
He then went on to dismiss public complaints as mere “discomfort”.
“There is much here to strive for, there are many reasons to stay. Our fathers have given up so much and they went through so much. Surely, our complaints are merely discomfort compared to their sacrifices.
“Let us build our future in this homeland of ours and work hard together to make things better,” he said.
This was an article published yesterday (or today, depending on which part of the world you are in) by The Malaysian Insider. My first reaction was: Apahal lu cakap, Encik? I am outraged that Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah would insinuate that Malaysians are "betraying" their forefathers by leaving the country in droves. True, Malaysia is our homeland. But being a Malaysian is, in a lot of ways, like loving someone who cannot possibly love you back.
Don't get me wrong, I have every reason to be proud to be a Malaysian. As a 4th generation Malaysian Chinese, I understand that my ancestors toiled in this strange country that was so far away from their homeland just to build a brighter and better future for their descendants. They endured hardship - they were tin miners, they were clerks, they build roadways, they were tailors, teachers, merchants. Yes, my forefathers poured their blood, sweat and tears into building Malaysia.
But look at where the country is now. Only a decade left before we mencapai Visi 2020 (the year that Malaysia is supposed to be a wholly developed country) and still we are bickering over little issues and still relying on outdated, racist policies that date back to the 70's. How is this progress? Datuk Seri Husni talks about us having "plenty of reasons to stay", but how is this the case? We Chinese and Indians are treated as second class citizens in our own country and our contributions are often overlooked. We get told that we are immigrants and that we should "go back to China or India". Our current Deputy Prime Minister once threatened to bathe a keris (Malay dagger) in Chinese blood. How can we be expected to live like this?
At the end of the day, we cannot possibly thrive in a country where we are marginalized, so it is only natural that we would want to move to other countries in which we are not judged based on the colour of our skin. So is it any wonder that we would want to leave?
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