In response to the Malaysiakini report 'Why I left Malaysia' - emigrants tell their tale , readers chip in their thoughts on the whether the ‘big leap' will eventually become a reality for them and their loved ones.

CH Tung

My wife and I graduated from Sydney, Australia in 1983. I insisted we return to Malaysia where I felt we had better chances of climbing the corporate ladder. Then we started a family - two girls and a boy. That's when we started shifting our focus to the future of our children.

After years of indecision about emigrating and after bearing witness to many instances of failed experiments with propelling this country to advanced status beginning with the Mahathir era, my hopes of a better future in this country for our children have dimmed considerably.

The country's school system does not seem to us to be moving in the right direction. There is much doubt about the quality of the school curricula and the teaching staff. In addition, there has been a series of policy reversals, especially with the medium of instruction. There has also been a noticeable shift to nationalistic, religious and moral focus in school programmes and activities.

We are also witnessing the increasing polarisation among the different ethnic groups in schools. Today's fully government-aided schools, where my children attended and are attending, are no longer places considered first choice for many Chinese parents. It indeed is heart wrenching to have to concede to our Mandarin medium-loving friends that national schools have indeed lost out permanently to vernacular schools.

The creeping Islamisation of Malaysian society has raised many concerns for us. Although we may be exaggerating, but we often spoke, among family and friends, of feelings of apprehension, caution and exclusiveness while at the same time feeling despair, hopelessness and empathy with those fellow citizens who had and who are suffering instances of injustice, whether real or apparent, especially over conversion issues.

We also feel that too much emphasis on religious and moral issues in our society today has widened the racial and religious divide among our young.

During my time as a youngster, when English medium schools were the first school of choice for many and when the school setting was a melting pot of young students of different ethnicities, the environment was more cohesive, as is the case in present-day Sarawak from where my wife originated.

It is also disgusting that what we chose to watch or listen to in the present day requires the approval of some ‘supra-guardian' who applies his brand of law to every Malaysian irrespective of personal beliefs.

My wife and I are in our 50s. We were born in this country believing we are Malaysians first. Half-a-century has passed and we are now faced with the unpleasant reality that there really is still no full-fledged Malaysian race. After all, the country's top leaders themselves have confirmed that fact. It is as if the ‘Malaysian' concept has been unreal all along - it is heard of every now and then, but is elusive when you want to get a hold on it.

How do we pass on this heritage to our future generations? How do we ask of our children to be proud Malaysians, but at the same time cannot really define the term with a sense of belonging and pride?

We want our children growing up in an environment where corruption is an evil word, where the justice can be sought from an independent judiciary, where certain segments of the society do not demand their pound of flesh for wealth created by others, where the citizens' taxes paid are well spent and equally distributed, where politicians enter politics not for opportunities but to serve the people. It is increasingly difficult to find such conditions here, really.

There had been the omnipotent dependency on the nation's oil reserves for government expenditure and voter loyalties, the dependency on the government for educational opportunities, scholarships and jobs, and most recently, the dependency on foreign unskilled cheap labour.

Could this dependency mentality have contributed to the present acknowledged rent-seeking behaviour, master-servant relationship, subsidy mentality or practices of political patronage so prevalent in Malaysian society?

Could it also have contributed to the phenomenon of political warlords and corruption in Malaysian political parties? Or maybe it could explain why, in spite of all the visible evidence of our declining competitive and living standards relative to our neighbours and the rest of the world, the majority of Malaysians are still pretty indifferent or oblivious to the permanent damage being done to the country?

Or is it not lamentable that the progress of a nation could be so easily made subservient to the narrow political interests and selfish demands of a segment of the larger society demanding permanent privileged assistance at every level and at every stage of development? If we are not concerned, then it's ‘Malaysia, we have a problem'.

Sudin Abdullah

Sebagai seorang keturunan Melayu dan warganegara tulin, aku sangat bersyukur dengan apa yang terdapat dinegara ini.

Kalau ada sesiapa yang rasa tidak sesuai untuk mencari makan atau tinggal di negara yang tercinta ini sila kemana mana di dunia yang luas ini yang dirasakan bersesuaian dengan diri sendiri dan tiada siapa pun yang melarang kamu.

Kamu semua tidak mengenang jasa negara ini yang telah memberi segalanya sejak kamu dilahirkan sehingga pandai mencari makan sendiri.

Kepada sesiapa yang merasa tidak puashati dengan suasana di negara ini, silalah keluar kenegara yang disukai dan usahlah menjadi petualang yang suka memecahbelah keamanan yang sedia ada.

Anda semua orang terpelajar dan bijak pandai, boleh lah kemana sahaja. Apahal dengan kami yang bodoh, kemana lagi kami nak pergi selain tinggal dinegara tercinta ini hingga keakhir hayat.

Disillusioned Malaysian

I am deeply touched by the account of Malaysians who chose to leave Malaysia. I salute these individuals for their intelligence, courage, determination, and the sacrifices they made in search for a better life elsewhere.

If people were indeed the most valuable asset of a nation, as I am told, then Malaysia has become poorer on account of the loss of these highly motivated people.

Do we really care to persuade them to stay? Now, by insisting on continuance of a racially-biased affirmative action in the New Economic Model, the BN government seems to signal that it does not care about potential deterioration of Malaysia's future.

Those individuals also hinted that they have lost hope in the future of the country. Without hope, inspirations and dreams die.

We should not blame these individuals for being unpatriotic because I am sure more will leave in light of rapidly deteriorating race relations and emergence of religious intolerance.

This is the final of a four-part series where Malaysiakini invited the Malaysian diaspora to write about why they left the country.

Part 1: 'Leaving Malaysia a necessity'

Part 2: 'Malaysia isn't the same anymore'

Part 3: 'Malaysia will always be home'

M'sian talent in high demand overseas

'Why I left Malaysia' - emigrants tell their tale