According to Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, the home ministry's parliamentary secretary, some 14,316 Chinese surrendered their citizenship between 2000 and 2006, compared to 1,098 Malays, 822 Indians, and 238 others.

In other words, of all those who have taken the plunge and 'quit' Malaysia during the six-year period, 87 percent came from the Chinese community.

What does it mean?

Well, to a typical Umno leader who is quick to blame the nation's ills on others for political gain, it proves the 'fleeting and fickle loyalty' of the Chinese Malaysians to their country of birth.

But to those who are quietly considering migrating, it is perhaps increasingly unlikely to buck this trend.

There have been tremendous demographic changes in Malaysia over the last five decades. In 1957, Malaya came into existence with roughly 53 percent Malays, 36 percent Chinese, and 11 percent Indians.

Today, the Malays make up some 60 percent of the population. Despite the surge in the Chinese population to over 6 million, the share has gone down to 25 percent.

Given the pervasive racism in this country, the dwindling proportion is a cause for serious concern to many indeed. Little wonder that the MCA and other Chinese clan associations and guilds are like ants on a hot pan, constantly worried about their future in this nation of myriad cultures.

Deeming all the efforts to boost the Chinese population a lost cause, some have urged Chinese Malaysians to 'walk out' of the country in search of greener pastures elsewhere.

For instance, the youth branch of the Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Fecam) recently called for Chinese Malaysians to look for new business opportunities in countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Criticising the failure of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to include the Chinese in his economic initiatives, ranging from the Iskandar Development Region to the East Coast Corridor Plan, Fecam's youth leader said disgruntled Malaysians should be bold enough to leave for survival's sake, and that his organisation was ready to play the role of the 'hornblower' by alerting Chinese Malaysians to business opportunities abroad.

Greener pastures

It is true that institutionalised racism, administrative discrimination and bureaucratic hindrances have resulted in a massive brain drain for Malaysia, as many non-Malays, Chinese especially, have chosen to remain in the countries where they received tertiary education with the conviction that it is the only way for them to put their talents to use.

Meanwhile, globalisation and the rise of China as an economic giant now present professionals of Chinese origin worldwide with unprecedented opportunities. Dr Ho Kee Peng, for one, has called on Chinese Malaysians not to miss the China boat, arguing that even ordinary citizens will find their fortunes beyond Malaysia.

To me, whether one should venture into the unknown or stay put is a personal choice. If one finds peace, happiness and security in Melbourne or Shanghai rather than in Johor Bahru, so be it, and I simply do not subscribe to the archaic Chinese phrase that one should find eternal rest only in the very land where one was born.

However, it is questionable to see globalisation and the ascendance of China in the global economy as the panacea for the Chinese Malaysian dilemma.

Let's face it, one must be equipped with either certain skills or sufficient financial capital before one can start toying with emigration. Legal migration is almost always a viable choice for those who are the cream of the crop in their own society, but a luxury for those who are not.

It is this group of elites that Australia, Canada and New Zealand are keen to absorb, as evident by the very existence of the so-called points-based system in these immigrant countries. The system has been so effective that even Britain, famed for its relatively liberal policy on migration, has begun consultations on it.

In a similar vein, the Green Card System introduced by the Chinese government is not meant to benefit all Malaysians of Chinese origin. Sharing the same racial and cultural background is inadequate as one must possess more than just a Chinese face, ie. professional skills and expertise that could spur further China's economic growth.

Hence, for Jimmy Choo and Michelle Yeoh, the world is no doubt their oyster. But how many Chinese Malaysians are as outstanding or fortunate?

Risking everything

In 2005, the education ministry revealed that Chinese Malaysian students made up 25 percent of secondary school dropouts. Put differently, as many as 150,000 Chinese Malaysian primary school leavers failed to complete secondary education.

Among them, 75 percent left school before PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah), while 80 percent quit schooling due to linguistic incompetence, either poor Malay or English proficiency. Two years on, I am yet to see concrete plans by the government to respond to the challenge.

Where will these dropouts end up? With sheer determination and a bit of good luck, some of them may go into vocational training for a future career or become successful in business. But I would suggest those who are concerned about the issue to visit areas such as SS2 in Petaling Jaya or Desa Setapak near Wangsa Maju, where many Chinese youngsters, their shirts hanging out and their hair dyed in multiple colours, sell pirated DVDs and other types of computer software.

The more daring ones may even be involved in drug dealing and therefore put their young lives at risk. Where their future holds is everyone's guess; what is certain is that these underprivileged Chinese will not get on the radar screen of the international headhunter, and the legal migration route is closed to them.

I have met a good number of Chinese Malaysians, men and women alike, while working in Chinese restaurants in London. They might have come from different places in Malaysia, but most of them shared two things in common: they are school dropouts and overstayers living in constant fear of being found out by the authorities.

One warm summer morning in June 2000, border guards at Dover, southern England, opened the door of a cargo lorry that had just arrived from Belgium, and found to their horror 58 dead bodies. The victims were Chinese men and women who had risked everything just to get out of their home province of Fujian.

Nearly four years later, 18 mainland Chinese cockle pickers died after becoming trapped by rising tides in Lancashire's Morecambe Bay in February 2004.

These poorly educated Chinese would at least have survived had they chosen to stay back in their home villages and till the land. Rather than landing in their imagined brave new world, they met their tragic and untimely death in England. Left out in the process of globalisation at home, they became the victims of the global illegal human trade.

Who knows, what has happened to the mainland Chinese may one day befall Chinese Malaysians should the economic conditions continue to deteriorate. Since not every one of them can fly, it would not be improbable for them to resort to the perilous and expensive route to the West through human trafficking.

Instead of being troubled by the dwindling share of the Chinese population and urging young Chinese parents to have more children, Chinese clan associations and guilds should look for ways to help the less fortunate Chinese youths thorough capacity-building. Pinning our hope on the illusive globalisation and the rise of China only detracts our attention from the real issues at stake.

In this regard, I am fully supportive of Hindraf , which has been pressuring the authorities to face up to the plight of the Indian community in Malaysia.

Because not all Indian Malaysians can fly, fighting the battle locally is vital. International attention will be helpful, but local problems can only be resolved through local solutions.