I am a female Chinese Malaysian, living in the Washington DC area in the United States. I have read many of the letters that often talk about foreign countries when the writers have no real knowledge of actually living in those countries.

Many draw conclusions about what those countries are like after hearing it from someone else or by reading and hearing about them in the media or after four years in a college town in those countries. Usually, I brush them off but King Kong's Migrating to slavery prompted me to write.

I finished STPM with outstanding results from the then prestigious St. George's Girls School in Penang. Did I get a university place from the Malaysian government? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. With near perfect scores, I had nothing, while my bumiputera friends were getting offers to go overseas.

Even those with 2As got into university. I was so depressed. I was my parents' last hope for getting the family out of poverty and at 18, I thought I had failed my parents. Today, I understand it was the Malaysian government that had failed me and my family because of its discriminatory policies.

Fortunately, I did not give up and immediately did research at the Malaysian American Commission on Education Exchange (Macee) to find a university in the US that would accept me and provide all the finances. My family and friends thought I was crazy, being the youngest of nine children of a very poor carpenter. Anything that required a fee was out of our reach.

Based on merit and my extracurricular activities of community service in secondary school, I received full tuition scholarship, work study, and grants to cover the four years at a highly competitive US university.

Often, I took 21 credits each semester, 15 credits each term while working 20 hours each week and maintaining a 3.5 CGPA. A couple of semesters, I also received division scholarships and worked as a TA (teaching assistant) on top of everything else.

For the work study, I worked as a custodian (yes, cleaning toilets), grounds keeping, painter, carpet layer, tour guide, librarian, computer lab assistant, etc. If you understand the US credit system, you will understand this is a heavy load.

Why did I do it? This is because I learnt as a young child from my parents that hard work is an opportunity, to give my best in everything, and to take pride in the work I do. I walked away with a double major and a minor with honours but most of all a great lesson in humility and a great respect for those who are forced to labour in so-called 'blue collar' positions.

Those of you who think you know all about Australia, US, or the West, think again. Unless you have really lived in these countries, i.e. paid taxes, paid a mortgage, taken part in elections, you do not understand the level of commitment and hard work it takes to be successful in these countries, not just for immigrants but for people who have lived here for generations.

These people are where they are today because of hard work. (Of course, I am not saying everyone in the US is hardworking. There is always the lazy lot which lives off of someone else's hard work. Fortunately, they are the minority.)

King Kong said: 'The migrants should realise that they go to a place to be used as cheap labour whilst believing they are benefitting from it. No wonder the Australians invite you there so they can continue basking in the sun, getting gold medals for swimming and tennis, whilst the immigrants continue to pick the grapes, drive their buses, and look after their sick (as doctors and nurses) or take care of their accounts and sanity (as accountants and lawyers).'

This is utterly insulting because it makes it sound like immigrants are the scum of society because they have to work. King Kong makes the word 'work' sound like a bad word. Does he seriously think that Australians would not want their own children to be doctors, lawyers or accountants?

I have to admit, parents may not be too proud if their children aspire to become grape pickers or bus drivers, but there is absolutely no shame in picking grapes nor driving a bus all day. These are hardworking people who contribute to society rather than leech the system dry.

Here in the US, there are many Hispanic labourers. They come from countries where there are no jobs, no food, and no opportunities. Many have little or no education and many are illegal. They earn low wages here in the US but when converted to currencies from their home country, these people are well-to-do.

They are able to take care of their families and sometimes their extended families in their home countries. These people come with nothing except a willingness for hard work and the great sacrifice of being away from loved ones.

King Kong should realise that the food he eats each day at one point or another involved 'cheap labour' provided by immigrants. He should admire the sacrifices these people make instead of mocking them for working hard.

Every single person, anywhere, should have the opportunity to succeed if they want to put in the effort and be accountable for their own actions. In the end, they should be able to reap what they sow.

It is bearable that opportunities are limited depending on how well-off financially one's family is but when higher education opportunities are race-based, like it is in Malaysia; it is downright cruel for those who see education as the only way out of poverty.

If you want to say discrimination is here in the US, yes, of course it is. Can you name a country where it doesn't happen? But let me tell you one thing - if you go looking for it, you will find it. But in Malaysia, you don't have to go look for it because it seeks you out, slaps you in your face every which way you turn, and is sanctioned by law!

Here in the US, my children have the same opportunity to go to school and learn just like their black, white, and immigrant friends. At school, they eat the same food, play the same games, are taught the same classes and when they are 18, they will still have the same opportunities.

Why would I want to bring my children back to Malaysia? So they can suffer the state-sanctioned discrimination as the non-bumis have for over 30 years?

As for being a slave in the foreign country, I am a happy 'slave' earning a good income as an IT project manager. I work five days a week; can talk bad about the president when I want to; argue about race, politics, and religion openly; gather with more than 50 friends and family when I want (no permit needed) and I don't worry about the police pulling me over because they say I ran the light when I didn't.

How about you, King Kong? I wonder if it is you or I who is enslaved.