Citizenships for votes: A recipe brewing for London Riots to happen in KL

The recent riots in London and other major cities have shocked the world, as video footage of the riots was screened on prime time television. The British government has taken major steps to restore law and order to Britain's streets despite rioting, looting and arson by gangs of youths spreading from London to other cities.

Youths fought running battles with police in the northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool smashing shop windows, carted off televisions and designer clothes, and torched buildings as police armed with shields and batons struggled to contain the disturbances.

About 16,000 policemen patrolled London's streets on Tuesday night. Shops, pubs and businesses in many areas closed early after boarding up windows and the capital had the air of a city under siege. The initial trouble followed the death of an Afro-Caribbean man from a gunshot wound in the head after an incident involving armed police. But after the first three nights, London alone saw just 450 arrests, and arrests nationwide have just breached 1,000 after five days despite police launching a murder inquiry after three Muslim men were run over by a car in Birmingham.

"These people have nothing to protest against," "It is, pure and simple, acts of criminal behaviour." Community leaders said the violence in London, the worst for decades in the multi-ethnic capital of 7.8 million people, was rooted in growing disparities in wealth and opportunity.

"Everyone's heard about the police taking bribes, the members of parliament stealing thousands with their expenses. Britain was supposed to be a model of successful, sustainable austerity and a safe haven in which the world's rich could buy houses and stash their savings.

Critics say government policies of chopping public spending and raising taxes to cut a huge budget deficit have aggravated the plight of urban youth as the economy struggles to grow and unemployment rises.

Could such a horror happen in this country or in Kuala Lumpur?

London is the home to a large population of foreigners. Commuting around London one cannot help noticing that London is populated with foreigners, much more than Londoners itself. And with the cost of living going sky-high, no increment in salaries, job competition and lack of jobs have caused many Londoners and particularly foreigners’ undue stress. Just one case of death at the hands of the Police could spark a chain of riots unprecedented in the history of the United Kingdom.

Back home, most KL-lites will agree with that the streets of Kuala Lumpur have seen a mass increase of foreigners. In every restaurant, shopping complex and building, one cannot ignore the foreign faces mulling about. What were mostly tourist shoppers in Bukit Bintang have today been replaced by thousands upon thousands of foreign faces moving about.

While most of them are legal workers in this country, there are at least 2-3million illegal immigrants loitering in this country. Almost 2 million of them have recently registered and granted legal migrant status allowing them to work in this country. Do we really have so many jobs for 2 million more people?

At this moment, the economy is arguably still vibrant enough to accept the influx of so many foreign workers. But what happens when an economic slowdown occurs like back in 1997? Today, the world is facing another economic crisis, with Portugal on the brink of bankruptcy followed closely by Spain and Italy. Even the United Kingdom, the venue of the recent riots, is not spared. Another economic giant, Germany, is expected to bail out these countries while Japan is a little shadow of its former self after the devastating Tsunami. As for the United States, it is facing a major crisis in its domestic debt and foreign borrowings running into the trillions of dollars.

The Bursa KL has lost billions of ringgit in a matter of days and lately another 2 billion has been wiped clean. The world economy is slowing down and there is talk of an economic bubble bursting. It will have a major impact on Malaysia’s economic performance, and if the government is not careful, we too may face bankruptcy before 2019.

Not only will it affect our children’s future job prospects, as with the cheap abundant migrant labour, salaries will remain stagnant with greater competition for the same job prospects. If something untoward happens to our economy, how are we going to get rid of these foreigners? The chain reaction would be horrifying, as jobless foreigners compete with Malaysians for social welfare, and our already scanty and over-taxed welfare facilities.

Riots like what happened in the United Kingdom will erupt like wildfire at the slightest provocation in Malaysia then. Sad to say, it will be the migrant workers whom Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Prime Minister Najib Razak are now rushing to hand out legal status to, who will lead in these riots. At the bottom of the food chain, they will be the first to feel the pinch of a clampdown.

A self-created problem due to political greed

Through the years, Malaysia has managed very well to keep economic migrants from encroaching on our shores and our resources, but we are now fighting a losing battle thanks to the BN government's insecurity over its political future. There is just too much talk and evidence popping up on a daily baisis that the Najib administration is indeed handing out 'instant' citizenships in return for votes in the coming General Election. As Malaysians buckle up against the rising costs of living, taking on side jobs to make ends meet, they are shocked to see so many illegal immigrants being granted a lifeline while they fight a losing battle.

Most of these immigrants now courted by the BN may never return home. Many will find ways and means to integrate into our society, marry our people, and impose on our generosity. Should Malaysia face an economic recession or a collapse leading to a depression, we will be faced with a few million unwanted migrants, who will have no compunction in committing crimes to feed their hungry tummies.

50 years have shown that Malaysians from every race are peaceful and harmonious, who will never riot indiscriminately, but with the influx of foreigners who do not value our culture and peaceful co-existence, we could one day experience London Riots in downtown KL. Our Malaysian culture will disappear slowly but surely and so will our future.

And it will not be as the Deputy Inspector General of Police and the Najib administration has tried to suggest - due to the Bersih movement for free and fair elections. The fault will lie fairly and squarely on the BN for endorsing and allowing Najib and Hisham to get away with allowing such an influx of migrant workers, all for the sake of clinging to power.

And if that is not bad enough news, the recent announcement by Husam Musa of PAS, that over 100,000 foreigners has been granted citizenships and incredibly all of them have immediately registered to vote in the next election should sent shudders down the spines of decent Malaysians. The Election Commission must provide an immediate answer or be sacked immediately.

And to think, there are still quite a sizeable number of Malaysians out there who think that their votes will not carry any significance and therefore, they do not need to make sure that their registration is in order for GE-13. If Malaysians themselves cannot be bothered to vote, what will happen to their country? Who is to save Malaysia if not Malaysians themselves? - Malaysia Chronicle