Foreign labor conquer our streets: Who is to blame - the 'rakyat', Pakatan or BN?

While Malaysians were busy speeding to their 'kampongs' or villagers this Chinese New Year holidays, immigrant labor descended on our city streets and townships all across the country.

Any Malaysian who ventured into Kuala Lumpur on the first day of the Dragon Year, would have been easily overwhelmed by the sight of tens of thousands of foreign workers who took over the streets from Petaling Street to Pudu to Bukit Bintang to Masjid India, Brickfields, Central Market, Sogo, Chow Kit – in fact the Kulala Lumpur city appeared to be like under some kind of siege.

Any new comer to Malaysia would have mistaken the capital city to be India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines – and notMalaysia.

Three things were most obvious.

One, the amount of litter thrown indiscriminately onto the streets and closed shop fronts was suffocating.

Two, almost all public transport was sardine packed with foreign workers ferrying in and out of Kuala Lumpur. None of the conversations would have been recognizable to a Malaysian.

Three, while paved side-walks and open spaces became an open lounge for tired feet and chatty conversations, prostitution was rampant behind the main streets or Malaysia’s much touted tourist destination – Petaling Street.

Likewise for Lorong Haji Taib. Surely the same must be true for many more back lanes in other places.

Who is to blame?

Now, who do we blame for all these? The rakyat? The opposition political parties?

Indeed, what is being witnessed on our city and town streets each festive holiday is getting more nightmarish with each passing year as more foreign workers pour into the country.

Do the BN led government and its leaders not realize the magnitude of social and health problems that come with an uncontrolled influx of foreign workers?

When caring Malaysians walk peacefully and with organized civility to demand for civil liberties and true democracy, they are immediately shot with water cannons and labeled as a national threat.

But when tens of thousands of foreign workers descend and literally occupy entire cities and care two-hoots to cleanliness and morality, there is no potential threat to this tiny nation of 27 million people with hardly 10 million of them gainfully employed.

What about threats to hygiene? Threats to health? Threat to cleanliness? What about the threats of morality? Hey, what if they break into a violent ruckus? Or are all these no cause for worry really?

Leaders, what are you doing to this country? Malaysians, do we care no more?

Malaysia Chronicle