WHAT'S WRONG WITH 'PENDATANG': If Dr M's ancestor had not migrated from Kerala, we would not have our 4th PM!

Gerakan’s Johor delegate Tan Lai Soon hit the nail on the head, when he said that most Malaysians are, but immigrants (pendatang).

Tan’s statement, of course, did not go well with the country’s ruling party, Umno. Because of that, even Gerakan party leadership had to suspend Tan for speaking out the truth, without fear or favour.

Unlike most of his comrades in Gerakan, Tan’s courage mimics that of Gerakan’s co-founder, the late Dr Tan Chee Khoon, who founded Gerakan, but later became disillusioned with the party and formed Pekemas.

Dr Tan was respected as Mr Opposition during his days as a politician. He was born of a Chinese immigrant family, Tan Chin Ghee and Tay Kim Siew. This explains why, during weekends, he had to rise up as early as 5.30am to feed livestock, before cycling some 10km to tap rubber right until 4pm, after which he would tend the vegetable patch and fruit trees in his garden.

Despite the poverty, Dr Tan made it to the grades and later pursued his studies to become a medical doctor. A devout Christian, Dr Tan often provided free medical treatment to the poor families who came to see him.

This was the kind of lifestyle of children of immigrants during the turn of last century. Unlike the younger generations of Malaysians, they were hardworking, honest and were prepared to sacrifice for their children. His son, Kee Kwong also became a medical doctor.

What’s wrong being Pendatang?

In the last century, many of the immigrants who came into this country became successful through sheer hard work. They saved every cent, and invested their hard-earned savings into their business, or purchase of land and properties.

Although the living conditions were rough, they were able to survive with six or more children. The eldest child would have to leave school and start working at a very young age in order to sustain the family.

In their spare hours, they would work in the estates or plant their own vegetables. Even fertilisers had to be collected from the bucket toilets in every home, but it was an honest way of earning a living. Pesticides were almost unheard of.

Being a fourth generation Malaysian, my maternal grandfather was also from Cheras. From being a pauper, he traded oil in the villages, and later became one of the richest man in Ninth Mile Cheras. With the money that he earned, he invested in land, which he turned into rubber plantations.

It was the rubber plantations that helped to enrich the countries, besides the tin mining in Lembah Kinta and other parts of the country using the Chinese labourers.

Grateful to Indian blue collar laborers

On the other hand, it was also the Indian immigrants who were brought into the country to build the railway tracks, without which the smoked crepe rubber and other minerals could be transported to the nearest port.

Many of these immigrants from India, and their descendants, are still living in Keretapi Tanah Melayu quarters. It is interesting that, despite the railway track being known as KTM, it was built by the British on the back of the Indian immigrants.

It is synonymous to the proverbial saying, “Lembu punya susu, sapi punya nama” (the cow’s milk, but someone else gets the credit).

Whatever it is, no one can deny the number of hours the Indian labourers had worked under the hot sun to build the railway tracks.

Had the locals been more hardworking and willing to work long hours, the British would not have even thought of bringing foreigners into the country.

We are faced with a similar situation in the 21st century. Because the younger generations of Malaysians are unwilling to work long hours, restaurants, petrol stations, security firms and factories have no choice but to hire foreigners.

Foreigners will improve financial status

It is usually the foreigners who are willing to work harder due to their economic conditions. Unlike most Malaysians who prefer to “lepak” around in shopping malls, their counterparts from countries such as Myanmar and Vietnam are working to earn a living in coffee shops.

For them, every single Sen is hard-earned income. They would be careful in the way they spend their money. It will not surprise me that in a matter of time, some of them will overtake our local youths economically.

God is fair. Those who work hard, and are wise in their spending, will be able to manage their finances better than those who have been given much, but keep spending it away in all things luxurious.

Who is to blame if our children drive a Proton Saga 20 years down the road, while the son of the Nepali guard drives a Mercedes! After all, we practise a free market. Anyone who can afford even a Rolls Royce can drive one!

Being immigrants, therefore, is not the issue. The main issue is whether we, as individuals, choose to work hard to become successful in life, instead of depending on government handouts.

What went wrong?

The issue is never about being an immigrant. As Gerakan’s Tan rightly said, “Except for the Orang Asli and the Pribumi in Sabah and Sarawak, all of us, including the Malays, Indians and Chinese are ‘pendatang’ (immigrant).”

Tan is not wrong. In fact, the word, the original word, ‘pendatang’ has no negative connotations to it, until it was given some negative meaning by certain quarters.

In my opinion, Gerakan is practicing a double standard when its deputy president Datuk Dr Cheah Soon Hai said that “Tan’s statement does not in any way represent the party’s stand. We are all Malaysians, nobody is a ‘pendatang’.”

If it is true that no one is a ‘pendatang’, then, how did the Indians, the Arabs, the Malays, the Indonesians, the Chinese, the Portuguese and other races in this country come about? Without the ‘pendatang’, how did the Baba Nyonya and Mamak come about?

If Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s grandfather had not migrated from Kerala, India, how then would we have the fourth prime minister?

I have to agree with Dr Cheah’s stand that no one is a ‘pendatang’, especially since 1957 when country became independent, and red ICs were turned into blue ICs.

The bottom line: how can we move forward as a nation, instead of being dragged down by some racial bigots, who would prefer to practise the crab culture; crabs in a box will never escape because the moment one crab tries to escape, the others would pull it down. - MAILBAG