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| Author | Topic: war |
| halo |
posted 1/1/05 1:56 PM
--- Humans have always migrated throughout history - ‘in search of better lives’. It is in our blood. Animals also do it. Some prefer to settle, others move on at whatever odds. The Chinese race is a good example of enthusiastic migrants. The Scots yet another. Take the example of my own extended family. My father, who came from a poor family, emigrated together with his late father and late elder brother from Guangdong to Ipoh in 1923. The price they paid was separation from my late grandmother for a couple of years. When reunited, the family expanded to a total of 10 children. Within one generation, eight of these children were able to go to university in Malaya (Singapore) and the UK. Three of these were Queen's scholars and another, a Colombo Plan scholar. This was during the time of the British, with free and fair competition prevailing. Within another generation, my family were all dispersed around the world. Today, we have family in the UK, USA, the Middle East and Australia. There are only two families left in Bolehland (Malaysia) from the previous generation - and they are retired. In this generation, we have 13 doctors - all but one specialists - with one the holder of personal chair in a UK university. I am sure all of us can attribute our various successes to being at the right place at the right time and also by being open minded, diligent and persistent. The argument has nothing to do with patriotism or race. We all love Malaysia as a country but we objected to the form and type of governance and the society it created during various times. This spurred our migration and our decision to work and live away from the land we were born in. Some of us have even maintained our Malaysian citizenship in hope that things will change and we may be able to return. Nonetheless, we are thankful that we have not been hindered in our move across borders. We are also thankful that holding a Malaysian passport today will facilitate movement between many countries compared to say, 20 years ago. In short, our leaving was our silent, peaceful protest. It will of course fall on deaf ears because the existing muhibah ruling class will only be interested in furthering their own wealth and well-being and not those of the rakyat. Fortunately for some of us, we could vote with our feet. So let it be. We take a larger global view and see that we contribute to the world, not directly Bolehland. My question is: Have you considered that those who do not migrate are the ones who are truly enslaved? And to the present government I ask: How do you think you could lure people like us back? (Hint: Better money would not work - as we get less where we all are.) ------- |
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