I am Malaysian First, and there is no second
To make a good country, the rakyat must first be sure about their identity and be willing to sacrifice. I am Malaysian first, and there is no second. This is where I was born, and where my grave will be. I will be eligible to vote next year, and I will do my job as a responsible citizen in the next general election.
By Anak Kelantan
Our deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin stated that he is Malay first, then Malaysian second. Unsurprisingly, his statement caused an uproar in the non-Malay community in Malaysia. Now, this is a pretty interesting topic to talk about, because to be honest, Malaysia’s diverse cultural background is really special, compared to the other nations in our world.
I really want to ask you all: “What race do you consider yourself as?”
Okay, this is only my assumption; I didn’t do any formal research nor conduct any poll to support this answer. The Malay will say he is Malay first, Chinese will say he is Chinese first and so on. This is the undeniable reality in our society. While the political conscious is slowly residing in the minds of Malaysians, most still lack something important – the willingness to consider themselves as true Malaysian.
From what I read in the internet, many Malaysians are reluctant to do so. Can’t blame them though, because they can provide solid arguments regarding this issue.
I Love Malaysia, but Malaysia doesn’t love me.
This is the most common argument we can find, especially among the non-Malay. For the youngsters, they say this because they feel that they are not given enough opportunities to further their studies in local universities, denied government scholarships, JPA and so on, even though they managed to get outstanding results in examinations.
For the older generation, they feel that the government messed up way too much that they do not have any sense of security anymore. The economy is collapsing, racial tension is rising and whatnot. They want to give the best for their family. They want their family to live without fear. They feel that they are worth more than being treated as a second class citizen. What do they do? Migrate to Singapore, Europe, America or other countries that will treat them way better than Malaysia or perhaps make their sons and daughters get the hell out from Malaysia before it’s too late!
Heck, even the Malays are running themselves. (Not to mention our ministers also send their children overseas to study while sitting here saying that parents should send their children to Sekolah Wawasan. What to do? Because they rich mah!)
Sadly, this is only applicable to the wealthy families. For families with lower incomes, what they can do is to work their asses off so they can feed their family and pay ridiculous taxes while being sucked dry by those monsters up there. The result is, poorer rakyat and fatter politicians. Gross!
Can we blame the ones who ran away? Hardly, because they are just doing what’s best for them. Not patriotic is the only response given to those people by our ministers rather than wooing them back. They actually blame those people, can you believe it? It’s just like an abusive father that blames his children for not coming back home after he had tormented them.
The Malaysian government is practically exporting all the professionals while importing those wannabe Malays from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Philippines or whatnot. Not to mention after that they conveniently become bumiputras! Not only is our government doing a stupid business here, they are driving Malaysia to the verge of bankruptcy! Can you believe that? They did all these just to stay in power! Are they actually stupid or smart?
Then again, this is only a matter of perception. The thing that you think is not necessarily what they will think. Maybe they think that corruption is a smart thing to do, because you can actually benefit from it. And self-benefit is the only thing that they think.
No, it is not humans who are running this nation. Corruption, cronyism, racism and what have you, are running this nation.
Pakatan Rakyat should not forget the People’s Declaration that they once signed, because the people still remembers it. Instead of politicking so much, how about suggesting new ideas to run this nation? Instead of backstabbing each other so much, how about sitting together and discussing how you can improve Malaysian life?
Barisan National has failed to do so for five decades and we do not expect to wait another 50 years for it.
With great powers comes great responsibility. How can PR expect people to comfortably hand out their nation to them if they are acting like a child? Can they live up to our expectations? Please answer this question.
Can PR promise that they will definitely pass new and stricter anti-corruption laws, enact the Race Relations Act, ensure press freedom and so on? Why do we seldom hear about that nowadays? Are those just janji gula-gula, as the Malay saying goes?
To make a good country, the rakyat must first be sure about their identity and be willing to sacrifice. I am Malaysian first, and there is no second. This is where I was born, and where my grave will be. I will be eligible to vote next year, and I will do my job as a responsible citizen in the next general election.
Because I can.
*The writer is an undergraduate studying as a journalist in Malaysia.
