AN OPEN LETTER TO PAS

Boo Su-Lyn is a feminist who loves reading fiction. She tweets at @boosulyn.

(MMO) – I scored 81.8 per cent for a test in my Mandarin class after six months of studying.

My teacher told me it was an A. I wasn’t quite satisfied because I thought I would have scored at least 95 per cent. I asked her if I was the top in my class.

She said she wasn’t sure because a Malay student had scored similar marks. Like the “kiasu” person I am — have been ever since secondary school — I told her to find out my classmate’s exact score (she scored 83 per cent).

It shouldn’t matter which family we’re born into, what skin colour we have, or what religious beliefs we choose to hold when it comes to achieving our dreams and objectives, whether it’s to be top of the class or a CEO.

As long as we’re tenacious and hardworking, aided with some luck, we should be able to accomplish your goals. And Malaysia should provide us the freedom and opportunities to pursue our ambitions.

So when you, PAS, say that you want an amendment to the Federal Constitution, the supreme law of the land, to limit the prime minister’s post to Muslims, it makes me feel that there is no place in this country for me.

Malaysia should be a country where all citizens are free to pursue their ambitions in any field. We should be able to realise our dreams here, not in some foreign land, because this is our home.

And when we prosper in our personal lives, the country will prosper too.

I have a dream of becoming prime minister.

Why should I or anyone else be prohibited from assuming the highest public office just because of our personal faith when religion has nothing to do with governance? 

There are good and bad prime ministers and presidents from various faiths, be they Muslims, Christians or even atheists.

My gender, race and religion should not hinder me from assuming the top position in any field, whether it’s in public office or in the private sector, because that is discrimination.

When you say that the prime minister has a duty to uphold Islam, I say that the leader of the nation is obligated to protect all faiths and ethnic groups equally because Malaysia is a country of diverse peoples. Neither you nor I are better than the other — we are both equal.

And if you say that the prime minister’s office must be based on “Islamic leadership”, what does that mean? 

Does that mean the head of the country should promote things like justice, honesty and compassion? Most other religions promote the same values.

The prime minister is a leader who should uphold both your and my interests fairly and give us both the freedom to be as conservative or liberal in our personal lives, and the opportunities to pursue our goals without denying others the same liberty.

Discrimination, especially on the basis of race and religion, feels utterly unfair and unjust because I did not choose my skin colour and faith is such a personal matter.

It negates my worth as a Malaysian citizen and gives the message that hard work and skills are not as important as one’s birth into a certain community.

Racial and religious discrimination, be it in the civil service or corporate world, robs us all of opportunities to improve our lot. There are no victors here. A tit-for-tat only leaves us resentful of each other.

My late father worked as an accountant in the government sector — at the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Agro-Based Industry.

He died from cancer when I was 16. I don’t know how far he would have progressed in his career in the civil service because he died when he was only 42.

My mother, a kindergarten principal, had to put three children through university on her own without help from the government. Our address belied our socio-economic status because we moved to Taman Tun Dr Ismail three decades ago when it was a backwater, nothing like the thriving suburb replete with hipster cafes that it is now. My parents used to live in a rented flat in Shah Alam before that.

As humans, we want to feel that we can rise above our circumstances and accomplish anything we set our sights on. Discrimination takes that away from us.

Why should we settle for second best?

You want to push a certain interpretation of Islam; that’s fine as long as you recognise that there are Malaysians — both Muslims and non-Muslims — who may not think like you, but who deserve to live their lives as they see fit without interference from the State.

Malaysia should be big enough for both of us.

Your party members should have the right to live a conservative lifestyle, just as much as other people have the right to hold a liberal philosophy.

There is, after all, no conservative or liberal Malaysia — there is only one Malaysia.

In the same way, there is no Malay, Chinese, Indian or “dan lain lain” Malaysia. Neither is there a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Hindu Malaysia — there is only one Malaysia full of diverse people who care for the nation despite their differences.

Both you and I love the country, even if we have different ways of expressing it. But our differences should not divide us, not when we both call Malaysia home.