The ‘get out’ conundrum…

The people who migrate do so for the sake of their children's future, so who is to say that they are doing the wrong thing?

COMMENT

As usual in this country, there will emerge from time to time a group of people who will tell another group of people to ‘get out’.

This ‘get out’ order by those people are very irritating and annoying so much so that there are people who will seriously take this ‘get out’ order as an insult and then proceed to ‘get out’ which simply means to ‘migrate’.

A survey done by this columnist among one’s Chinese relatives, friends, neighbours and people around the residential neighbourhood found that the word ‘migrate’ was markedly more prevalent among them after the 13th general election than at any other time in these past 40 years.

Of course there are still ample opportunities for everyone to prosper in this country at this point in time but what about the future of one’s children and grandchildren?

This columnist’s neighbour who has three school-going children intends to send them overseas for further studies with the instruction to them to stay on in that country after completing their studies.

Why overseas? This is because yearly we witness first-hand the account of many Chinese top-scorers failing to obtain a place in our local universities and thus this columnist’s friends, relatives and neighbours opine that there is no future for their children here.

The people in the Chinese community, for example the car workshop owner, the chicken rice seller and the morning coffeeshop friends who gather for breakfast all have at least one member of their family overseas who is doing very well there too. This is indeed not at all unusual.

Even this columnist’s cousins who are working overseas right now have no intention to return home but plan to stay on abroad while those of them here who have young children plan to send their offspring overseas and telling them not to return.

Why is all this happening?

One has to understand that there were high hopes among this columnist’s friends and relatives that we would be having a new government after GE13 but it was not to be. Hopes were shattered after the results of GE13 were announced.

As it is now, our nation is plunging from one crisis to another: the missing plane, the water crisis, the bus accidents, the drugs and human trafficking and as usual the high rate of snatch thefts (instances of which are regularly updated on social media), not to mention the dengue menace which is continuing its rise unabated.

Add the above-mentioned problems with corruption, cronyism, wastages and leakages in an inept administration and what have you? A whole list of problems galore.

Of course there are those who say that the grass is not always greener on the other side but have you seen the very green grass in the English countryside and the grass in the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ country, New Zealand?

Granted that there is no Utopia and that there will never be one, and other countries have got their problems too, but which country in the world do you see one group of citizens telling another group of citizens to ‘get out’?

Speaking for myself and for those whom this columnist talked to on a regular basis, we are hereby giving this very clear message to those who tell us to ‘get out’: “While getting out is our option and our right, you have absolutely no right to tell us to ‘get out’. Every citizen is equal before the law and the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land.”

Although migrating looks like adopting a defeatist attitude and akin to giving a default win to those who want us to leave this country, who is to say that migrating is wrong and that it is better to stay on and fight?

The people who migrate do so for the sake of their children’s future so who is to say that they are doing the wrong thing?

Even this columnist’s two friends who are single ladies approaching retirement age would like to retire abroad, either in Britain, Australia or New Zealand for a peaceful, safe, calm, quiet and conducive atmosphere. They think that buying a house in Plymouth (England) or Perth (Australia) sounds very tempting indeed.

As for this columnist, decision is put off till a bit later as there is still a very slight glimmer of hope that there will be a better tomorrow in this country for everyone under the sun.

Still, it is somewhat a pity that rooms near 221B Baker Street are too pricey for this columnist’s bank balance.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and an FMT columnist.