Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's remarks that Chinese Malaysians are being marginalised is a proven fact, and does not require debate.

In fact, the Chinese should leave the country for a better future, in view of the increasing difficulty in obtaining good education and jobs.

These were some of the opinions expressed at a forum last night jointly organised by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSAH) civil rights committee and Oriental Daily .

The speakers at the forum were KLSAH president Bong Hon Liang, economic expert Dr Hoo Ke Ping and academician Tee Boon Chuan ( pix ).

Tee, who is director of the Malaysian Centre for Ethnic studies at New Era College, opined that the Chinese community in Malaysia are being marginalised not from a racial aspect but from a religious one.

On the same note, he said the Chinese are actively marginalising themselves by being apathetic to social problems.

"Whenever there is a problem affecting the Muslim or Malay community, the common reaction from the Chinese community is that they don't care. By doing this, they are marginalising themselves.

"The Chinese must change this attitude. Whatever problems affecting the Malay community for example, will eventually affect the Chinese community. Anything that happens in the land is also a Chinese problem."

Economic cake

Taking a more aggressive stance, Hoo said political leaders are using the marginalisation excuse "to take away portions of the economic cake" from other communities.

"We are arguing about (Lee) Kuan Yew's statement, whether the Chinese are being marginalised or not. And over here, the Malay say that they are being marginalised. All of us say we are being marginalised. The fact is that the economic cake has not grown.

"That's why the Chinese feel marginalised. People are robbing one another to get more portions," he added.

He said when the New Economic Policy (NEP) was enacted in 1972, the main purpose was the distribution of wealth and "to give a slice of the economic cake to everyone or else we would resort to robbing one another".

Hoo felt that the accusations levelled at Lee was hypocritical. "Our leaders should look at our own political and economic situation and our education system. We have problems."

He said the Chinese were being actively marginalised since the 1969 racial riots:

"When the government turned Kuala Lumpur into a federal territory, that's when the atmosphere changed totally. Every time there is a re-delineation of the constituency borders, the Chinese community loses something.

"I believe Lee Kuan Yew is correct. Don't condemn him. The Chinese have been marginalised through politics a long time ago. By the year 2020, the Chinese population would be less than 20 percent. The Chinese would have no power to wield political influence. This is a fact we should accept," he added.

He said that Chinese Malaysians should look at the bigger prospect in the international arena and not only restrict themselves to Malaysia.

"Malaysian professionals in Hong Kong, China, anywhere else, this is our solution. A place without marginalisation. Why should I fight for pittance? I have sent my children to study overseas and not in Malaysia because a good future is not in Malaysia.

"Our forefathers came to the Nanyang (South East Asia) hundreds of years ago to find a solution. Now we are facing the same problems as our forefathers. We need to find a better solution," he said.

Fight for our rights

Disagreeing with Hoo's view, Bong said: "As Malaysian citizens our forefathers came to Malaysia after some hardship. But now we should stand and fight for our rights and meet the challenges."

He cited Chinese education as an example: "For years the government has tried to get rid of Chinese education. But still it survived and it is progressing. This is because of support from the community."

He said the Chinese community should reflect first, and then push to raise awareness on civic mindedness. "We have to learn to grow together with other ethnic communities."

"The country's progress cannot rely solely on the Chinese. We must let other races compete for the same prospect and we should bring all races together to the table," he said.