YOURSAY
YOURSAY | ‘That does not mean I love M’sia any less, nor am I any less Malay or M’sian.’
Why I had to travel halfway across the globe for university
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/389500
Puzzled: ‘Ketuanan Melayu’, and now ‘ketuanan Melayu-Islam’, is one of those issues that have often strengthened the feeling of deep validation inside me, a Malay who has emigrated.
I cannot find congruence within me between living my life in a culture where dominance of such milieu is ever growing unheeded, versus living my life in the pursuit of justice, liberty and happiness.
Truly, I feel blessed for having the courage to emigrate when I did. That does not mean I love the land of my birth any less, nor am I any less Malay or Malaysian.
Cogito Ergo Sum: This is a sad but true story of a disenfranchised scholar. What is sadder is that Julian Tan will not even be missed by a system that rewards mediocrity and shuns intelligence.
Unfortunately, this so-called affirmative action has strayed way beyond its original target. Only the cronies and friends of an elite group within Umno are the beneficiaries this stunted policy.
Odin Tajué: Good on you, Julian Tan. Of course, you are absolutely right.
In discriminating against the non-Malays, what the Malaysian government is doing is akin to one consuming poison bit by bit. Before long, one would kick the bucket as certain as night follows day.
Which brings us to the ‘bumiputera’ thing. Any non-Sarawakians who have lived and worked in Sarawak for at least as long as I have would know that although the natives are considered princes and princesses (of soil), they lose out to the Malays.
Mind you, they form the majority of the population there, whereas the Malays and Muslim Melanaus come third.
I personally know three natives who have had to go overseas to continue their studies - two to the United States and one Down Under. They are working there now and are doing very, very well.
And no, they are not coming back.
Meor Kamil: If you cannot read, write or speak Bahasa Malaysia, don't call yourself a Malaysian. It is no loss if these people leave the country.
TheAxman: Meor Kamil, even if Tan speaks zero Bahasa, he can contribute a lot more to this country than millions of Malays. From my point of view, he deserves to be Malaysian a lot more than our corrupt Umno politicians.
I am bumiputera, even though of mixed percentage as I am only 25 percent Malay. I detest the bumiputera policy. I detest Umno. Even talented Malays are not going to be successful in Malaysia without "playing the political game".
My school friends suffered even though they were more talented than me. Guess what, more than half of my class - the top class of a top school in Kuala Lumpur - have emigrated. If that happens to every top class in the country, I wonder who is left?
I left 20 years ago and I am now one of the most senior persons in one of the top 100 largest companies in the world.
I am not coming home until the government changes.
Awang Top: Meor Kamil, my neighbour's two children can speak and write Bahasa, even score A in the subject in SPM. But they are still being treated like second-class citizens. Please explain that.
Anonymous 2460851488616887: It's all about how high the bar we want to set. Malaysia has set the bar so low just so to make some people feel good. It's actually putting their own people backwards.
The rich will send their kids overseas and those who cannot afford will continue to rot away. For those that the government will not help, you will have to help yourself.
RR: Tan, you are not the only one who have suffered this atrocious discrimination based on race and religion. There are thousands of them over the last 40 years.
Not only scholarships but recruitment and promotions in civil service and government-linked companies (GLCs) were extremely biased.
Apa Ini?: When China reopened its doors in the late 70s, it encouraged and welcomed back the many overseas Chinese to help develop the country. Tens of thousands responded, many even volunteered.
I've heard BN ministers - notably the arrogant Nazri Abdul Aziz - tell overseas Malaysians, including Malays, who raised the issue of brain drain that they can stay away.
The truth is, as PM Najib Razak once remarked publicly, he and Umno put blind loyalty above all else. You get what you vote for - a dumb government.
The first-past-the-post system under the Umno-dominated Election Commission is making certain the vote goes in their favour.
Breanainn: Good job Tan, but your article contains contradictions and simplistic reasoning. You complain about being treated as a second-class citizen but yet you are an Oxford-trained engineer with a PhD, and therefore better off than the vast majority of Malaysians.
If Malaysia is unbearable for elites like you, what about the millions of Malaysians (of all races) who are struggling to make ends meet because they are poorly educated and poorly paid?
Surely the "suffering" you have endured doesn't compare to what they have gone through. Many Malaysians are not in a position to emigrate, but yet they work hard to build a better life for themselves.
It would be nice if talented elites like you return to Malaysia, regardless of the political situation, and contribute to our economy and society.
Tony Soprano: My ex-wife is Chinese Malaysian. For much of the 15 years we were married, she remained gung-ho about being a Malaysian patriot.
We worked and lived in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and finally, the United States. With a US degree and a great work ethic, she eventually climbed to a highly paid corporate executive position in Houston - a boss in the male-dominated maritime industry. (So much for Malaysians' fantasy that Chinese are discriminated against across the board in the US).
As time passed, she became less enthusiastic about returning to her homeland. Her newly-minted US citizenship began to mean more to her than the freedom to work to her full potential - it gave her freedom, period.
Her family remains in Kuala Lumpur, and that's the only reason she visits. She has essentially outgrown that odd little world of Malaysia and left it behind.
CK Chang: Tan, smart people like you are a "nuisance" back here. Full stop. Enjoy your life overseas, wherever you call home.
There is no need to be patriotic because that was the mistake I made.
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