I’m Malay and I’m not an ingrate

This is the writer's open letter to the Prime Minister.

COMMENT

According to my birth certificate, I am a Malay. Based on my skin colour and sharp features, I should be from Penang. The truth is, both my grandparents sailed to Malaysia, therefore I was born an Anak Selangor, eventually got trained abroad and am married to a foreigner.

Most Malaysians would call me ‘rojak’. To me, I am a Malaysian, with rights to speak up. Period.

The most recent Malaysian tragedies, GE13 and Utusan’s Jacket Wrap have left my blood boiling. Then, the prime minister himself branded us Malays as greedy and ingrate. I can’t keep this to myself anymore, I need to respond.

Dear Prime Minister, before I begin, allow me first to inform you that these experiences and views are personal, and are not based on hearsay or cyber trooper stories.

Why I am not an ingrate?

I was a child who lived through Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s systems and policies, and I still have very high respect for him. He had a good control over the country, his wife and the entire globe. Yes, he probably is vocal, but at least he knew his stuff well.

He knew when to cut the gangrene when needed. That is the reason why Malaysia is so synonymous with Mahathir and that is the reason why he is still around as The Doctor in the House.

My fortune of getting a JPA scholarship, back in 1988 was because of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and France, so, in a way or another I contributed to the bilateral relations, I’d like to think.

I studied Mass Communications, at an era where Communications and PR was unheard of. Not to sound boastful or arrogant, only 50 per cent of students sent to France came back with a scroll, because it’s not a walk in the park to learn the language in a jiffy!

Because of that, I can see through the way your messages are being spinned and played. I can see through the tricks and I can see through the deceits.

Upon my return, I surrendered myself to my sponsor, but I was relieved of national duties. Fact No. 1 – I am not an ingrate. If I wanted to, I could have chosen not to come back, some did. But I didn’t.

To add to that, I brought home an intellect, who now serves the finest university in country. ( yes, I also received major insults from an immigration officer in 1993, for not choosing a Malay man ).

To cut long story short, his PR was rejected three times, and was accepted only after 11 years. Sigh!

So, fate has it that I worked for Fortune 500 companies for the first 10 years, before I wanted to have a taste of the local flavour.

I learned about Returns on Investment, I learned about Cost Savings, about Profit and Losses, and most importantly I was moulded the western way, with good ethics, discipline and right mental attitude.

That’s what I knew about being in the Corporate World. The bosses I served were Catholics, Jews, Orthodox Christians, etc. and were very professional. They used to call me a banana, yellow on the outside but white in the inside.

What’s the big deal?

With them, my forthrightness did not pose a problem. They knew that polemics were healthy for as long as it did not get personal.

The truth of the matter is that I am still a Malay, therefore I should be less vocal to be accepted and now I am told to be grateful.

The fact is I don’t know what to be grateful for.

No.1 – When I got the scholarship, I was also doing the country a favour too, wasn’t I?

No.2 – Every time I received a handsome bonus, half of it would go to LHDN? I pay taxes for income, house, the land, the door, the import duty for my car, toll, service tax, soon GST, etc. etc.

No. 3 – I am from the middle class, and whatever I am getting from the government, everyone else gets it too. So, what’s the big deal?

Look, I have tried to serve and give back to the government. I have tried working for a government agency. I thought of giving back to society. I thought of serving the rakyat. I had the best intentions and what happened was I was exposed to the worse phase of my career.

I was forced to compromise on my values and beliefs. I had to sign on documents which figures were false. I had to agree on spending rakyat’s money inappropriately. Often, my arms got twisted and that was when, I had to say, Thanks but No thanks.

I am not here to open a can of worms, but I hope you get the message that the picture is not as rosy as you think it is. Your Generals, Sir, are not that great after all.

Sir, personally I think you are a sharp guy. I have sat in meetings with you. And I think you do feel for the rakyat. But, again, your Generals, Sir, are not up to mark. I am sorry. You don’t have the right people surrounding you.

You are not getting the right advices, neither are you getting the right reports being sent to your desk.

Here’s why: Reports that are being sent to you are filled with cosmetic changes. Those feel good stories you publish in the sponsored newspapers are not doing the trick anymore.

That is why Malaysians have no more trust in you or your administration. People like me, who have had first hand experience, have no qualms about sharing our experience.

I know I am not alone. I know others have their fair share of their stories too.

Sir, please don’t blame the Chinese because we Malays are also part of the tsunami. But we are not ingrates. We are just tired and fed up of lies after lies. Although we don’t really fancy the other parties, we don’t have a choice but to deny a vote for you. We really don’t have a choice. Believe you me.

Old thinking

Everyday, someone is getting robbed, raped, killed, snatched, but yet, your report says crime rate is going down. I fear for my safety all the time.

We also don’t get it that you constantly repeat those goodies you’ve given, so why give in the first place, if your only intention is to mengungkit till the end of time? After all, it’s just a spin-off of our taxes paid, so where is the big deal, again?

Najib, your popularity has dropped big time. Even Kim Kardashian understands that to be popular, one has got to be liked. Whilst we understand your perhaps sincere intention of wanting to complete your Transformation Episodes, actually, we Malaysians, the 50.8%, are not really bothered about the ETP, GTP, RTP, and all the other Ps.

The only P we can think of is Pakatan, and that’s only because we don’t have a choice, I repeat. We have got to give them a chance to see how they can make that change we so long for.

I beg of you Mr Prime Minister, to take a good look around you. Your best bet is to shave and burn, if you still want our mandate. Most of the leaders at the top are mostly incapable leaders who have been placed by the Old Guards for their best interest.

These are tired leaders with outdated mentality which will not bring Malaysia to greater heights. They have outdated thinking which includes women below 45 not being eligible to be trained as a board member. How stupid is that?

Ask NAM please. They sent me an invite to be trained and rejected it soon after because I don’t adhere to the age box. They say, women under 45 are still emotionally unstable and at a child rearing age.

So, strike off all women under 45. Conclusion is, one has got to be menopaused before you can be trained by NAM Institute. Tan Sri Rafiah should read about Yahoo CEO being appointed when she was pregnant.

I have also served my daughter’s school PIBG for two terms, a High Performance School, the best performing girls school in PJ – where special funds were supposedly to be channelled for the betterment of the SBT School and where the headmistress is supposedly to have some autonomy.

Unfortunately, this is all untrue. I have many other stories to share, but let me just stop here.

I am standing up for all other Malay Malaysians who didn’t vote for BN. Like I said, it’s not about being ungrateful. It’s about wanting that change. It’s about creating a new future for our children and grandchildren. That is our responsibility. We do want to Ubah.

So many court cases are not solved. So many questions unanswered. So much dirt swept under the carpet. We, Malaysians are no longer a gullible bunch. My mother’s generation is still living in the past and is still living in Tunku’s era. She still thinks of Japanese Occupation and how the nation fought for Merdeka. She still thinks we need to be grateful to the government. No, Mak – we have just witnessed the worse GE in the history of Malaysia. The numbers say it all.

Sairana Mohd Saad is a regular contributor to FMT.