2020: A Thought Experiment

It was the year of the Wawasan, the street of Kuala Lumpur was filled with people from all walks of life, across a wide variety of ethnic origin. Shops are mostly owned by the Bangladeshi-Malaysian, Nepalese-Malaysian and Burmese-Malaysian. No matter where you look, the city is filled with signboards and election posters written in Sanskrit-ish looking words unintelligible to us, the native of the land.

These relatively new citizens of the country are not shy about using their mother tongue at all, in fact, they are so proud of it that they set up independent vernacular schools across the country and taught curriculum brought in from their native country, all in the name of protecting their language, traditions and values. As a result, none of their children can speak our language, forming a huge communication barrier in the society.

The once industrious native Malaysian, pampered and spoiled by their parents hard earned wealth, bogged down by petty political and religious issues, unable to compete with the immigrants in almost every aspect, are being systematically replaced in the city. To add salt to the injuries, the opposition party, ERA (Equal Right Alliance), whose members consist of mostly Burmese, Nepali and Bangladeshi immigrants with their slogan of "Malaysian Against Unequal Treatment" has managed to win a landslide victory against the Pakatan Rakyat government in many Selangor and Kuala Lumpur electorate district.

Now, as a native Malaysian, what do you think? Do you feel the ever increasing immigrants population threatened our place in the society? Or do you agree it's finally time the hardworking  immigrant in this country get what is rightfully theirs, a citizenship and the right to enjoy the privilege of being Malaysian? It worries me that most people I know tend to agree with the former statement, with the exception of only a few staying neutral on this issue.

This is a very interesting thought experiment done during this Tuesday's Malaysian Media and Culture class, drawing a parallel between a possible future in 2020 and what really happened in 1969. It served to put us in the shoes of the Malay people so we will know how they felt during the 1969 General Election and to give context to the subsequent tragedy that ensued.

More importantly, it also asked the question: are we really so afraid of being replaced that we decided to treat immigrants with contempt in this country?

It is stated very clearly in our federal constitution that a foreigner can apply to be a Malaysian through naturalization. This process requires the immigrant / would-be citizens to
(a) live in Malaysia for 10 of the 12 years prior to the application,
(b) be able to speak adequate Malay
(c) have two Malaysians who recommend the applicant for citizenship

If they go through this process and became a citizen, then the right thing for us to do should be accept them with open arms, right? But instead, we have become so paranoid that in the last election, there occurred an incident where two Malaysian citizen on their way to vote were harassed by several bystanders simply because "they don't look Malaysian enough". Is it acceptable that this is really what we have become?

I for one think that we should embrace these immigrants as Malaysians. In my opinion, their work ethics will make them a fine addition to our country's workforce. They work hard doing jobs most Malaysian considered to be too low class and paid too little, yet they send most of their salary back to their home country. They understand hardship. How many Malaysian of our generation can say the same of themselves? (Not me)

I believe that in order to move our country forward, we need people who understand hardship in our society. I think we should not be terrified at the prospect of having to compete with them, in fact we should welcome it because competition make us great. Without competition to motivate us, where would we be?

And finally, let's not forget what makes Malaysia great in the first place. Being the melting pot of culture from all across Asia, it is our multicultural society that make us what we are today. Immigrant from Southern China and Southern India jump-started the economy of Malaya. At one point, we are the world's largest exporter of tin, rubber and palm oil. These are achievements only made possible with immigrant labours. So, imagine what we can do now if there are more immigrant decided to join us?

Of course, there would be some negative consequence too such as the possibility of increase in organized crime as some immigrants group might decide to join illegal associations and clubs (kongsi gelap) founded by their own ethnic group, much like how the Chinese triads started here and the Italian mafia started in the US.

I bet the Malay people back in the 19th century saw the Chinese immigrants and their triads as a threat too, and did we all joined the triads and become a criminal? The fact is, most people just wanted to live peacefully, if they can find a proper job and get a proper salary, I believe the majority of them will remain a law abiding citizen. So it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

So, what do you think about this issue? Should we accept these immigrants to be our citizen one day? Should we continue to keep things as it is? Or should we reject these immigrants and send them back to their home country? Post it in the comment because I would really like to hear about your opinion and your reasons. Remember, there is no wrong answer.