MAY 29 — Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir caused a stir after she told me in an interview that she would emigrate if hudud were to be enforced here.
But the activist later decided to stay put in Malaysia, hoping to find the country she grew up in where people did not not "call you a traitor to your community just because you think and are different, where people did not think it’s a good idea to have different laws for different people and believe that’s justice."
The way the public reacted to Marina’s announcement — first, by deploring her desire to leave the country should a fundamentalist Islamic law be enforced, and then by applauding her decision to stay and “fight” – shows how Malaysians view patriotism and loyalty.
If you choose to emigrate, you’re seen as “giving up” on Malaysia. But if you stay in the country that is becoming increasingly conservative and forbidding, then three cheers for you for making the harder choice and sticking it out.
An estimated over two million Malaysians have emigrated since the country achieved independence in 1957, with almost half of those leaving the country in 2013 moving to Singapore.
Although the brain drain mostly involves ethnic Chinese, activists say that based on anecdotal evidence, it appears that Malays have also begun leaving the country due to growing fundamentalism and the institutionalisation of religion.
We don’t owe Malaysia anything.
We did not choose to be born here.
The concept of statehood is illusory and only serves a purpose if countries were to go to war. People are so diverse. It is not always possible to prioritise our citizenship above our ties to fellow religious believers, people from the same ethnic group, people of the same sexual orientation, or dozens of other markers of identity.
It’s unrealistic to demand that we be “Malaysian first” above everything else. A Muslim born in Malaysia might find more common ground with a Muslim living in Saudi Arabia than with a Malaysian atheist, for example. A lesbian here might identify more with the gay community in the US than with straight Malaysians. Heck, environmentalists from Borneo may have more in common with British greenies than Malaysians here who generally don’t care about the environment.
We only owe Malaysia our taxes. Those are our dues for the infrastructure that we use in pursuit of a living.
We fight for the rights of minority groups because if we want to raise our standard of living collectively, then every member of the team (ie: Malaysians, since the world is organised into countries) must have equal opportunities.
Affirmative action is acceptable if it’s directly targeted at those who need a hand to get onto the same platform as everyone else to make money. Then it’s entirely up to us to succeed in a free market.
Government should not interfere in business. Private citizens must be allowed to succeed or fail on their own terms without being bailed out by the government. The fact that government-linked corporations (GLCS) are ubiquitous among the biggest companies in Malaysia says a lot.
There is no real reason to be “loyal” to our country.
If the government fails to provide a level playing field for all citizens, why should we stay when we can go elsewhere to get more equal opportunities to ply our talents?
If the government discriminates on the basis of religion and makes it difficult for non-Muslims to practise their faith, or even for Muslims who do not subscribe to mainstream doctrine, why should they stay if faith is a big part of their lives?
If gay people can’t get married here, why should they stay when they can move to New Zealand, for example? Even Ireland, a Catholic-majority country, recently legalised same-sex marriage by popular vote.
We can, of course, choose to stay and “fight” for better government policies.
We can campaign for gay rights (though we have a far way to go before calling for the legalisation of same-sex marriage when gay and transgender people still get beaten up here).
We can continuously speak out against the trend of Islamisation that is gradually creeping into the personal lives of Malaysians, both Muslims and non-Muslims.
And every five years, we can vote for the political party that best represents our interests. But what can do we do when both political coalitions don’t seem to have very distinct policies?
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has never explicitly said that they will abolish pro-Bumiputera policies or curtail the powers of Islamic authorities. They never promised to minimise government intervention in business either. The states under their control have yet to repeal laws that prohibit non-Muslims from using the word “Allah.”
We can’t even elect the Kuala Lumpur mayor or vote in councillors, who manage local infrastructure and fix things like broken lights at the neighbourhood playground.
Making the decision to emigrate isn’t always the easier option, either. Some of my friends have successfully moved to countries like New Zealand or Finland, but they also tell me stories of many Malaysians who failed to get the jobs they desired overseas and were forced to move back home.
Choosing to emigrate is not tantamount to giving up on Malaysia.
It’s simply recognising that we owe nothing to the country we were born in (except taxes) and we can only do so much by marching on the streets, or by ranting on Facebook and “liking” thoughtful posts, when policies may not really change.
Of course, you can stay if you can’t let go of the kinship to your country, your state, or even your taman. But for the rest of us, our “home” is not limited by geographical boundaries.
*This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
