Is Malaysia heading in the wrong direction?

 

From Dr Dickson Kay

I read with much regret, not only as a minority in Malaysia but also as a Malaysian, a doctor and as a son to my parents.

The news I am referring to are the protests of our supposed fellow learned future generation in UiTM against the suggestion to admit non-Bumiputera cardiothoracic trainees into the UiTM postgraduate programme.

This issue of a shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons is a dire one as we all know in public and also as a government doctor myself.

It has led to exceedingly long queues for life-saving cardiac surgeries throughout the nation, with many patients dying before receiving the much-needed surgery.

Even with such circumstances, we see our university students out in unison to protest this, citing reasons such as Article 153.

I am no legal expert and do not wish to delve into such sensitive issues, but I urge these students to just put themselves in the shoes of one of these patients and their family members.

If it was your mother or father who’s awaiting a cardiac bypass, would you not want them to be operated on as soon as possible?

Or would you rather delay their treatment in the name of defending your ethnic privileges?

Would you demand to wait until a doctor of your ethnicity and religion is available? Does it matter if the surgeon is of Chinese or Indian or Murut descent?

All that matters is that the doctor is competent and compassionate.

If any of your parents were the patient, would you still be protesting as fervently as you are to this suggestion, which is a solution to our already ailing healthcare system? There should be no place for racial bigotry in medicine.

I am glad that several well-respected community leaders have yet again voiced their much-needed thoughts on this.

I have always applauded UCSI University’s Tajuddin Rasdi who has always been a strong proponent of a moderate, inclusive Malaysia.

The question he recently asked was apt. How can we allow non-Malaysian international students into UiTM as postgrad students but fight so vociferously against our own Malaysian national of a different race? Where is the logic in that?

We pride ourselves on the international arena for being a moderate brand of religious practices, and of a multicultural nation.

But in the face of these recent events, it is not the protests of such supposed future leaders of our country that worry me most, but the silence of the majority. It is deafening. What do they all mean? More worrying to me, what does the silence of the said majority say about the state of our nation?

As a minority, honestly, most of us are fearful to speak up as the repercussions are severe. The silence of the majority of supposed moderates in Malaysia is deafening and it speaks volumes and worries us to the core.

We always hoped and thought with Undi18 that the younger generation would be more inclusive and moderate, but with recent developments and election results, it doesn’t appear so.

Malaysia needs more open dialogue on such quintessential topics which determines the narrative of the country’s direction but, unfortunately, the minorities, such as myself, have learnt our lesson not to voice out. We know that we, too, are citizens of this country but are always told to stand down and know our place. This is very sad for Malaysia indeed as the direction we are heading to does not seem to be a good one, unlike our neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam, who have far surpassed us in all aspects.

We are heading the other way and the wrong way in my humble opinion.

These events seem to be showing me a glimpse of what could be an undercurrent of a different narrative that Malaysia is heading to. Has the Malaysian narrative come to a point of a ‘us versus them’?

More mature open discussions with good intent are needed across the divide. One that someday need not hide behind the three capital letters. One that is, I stress, mature, intellectual and level-headed. One that is headed by community leaders, religious leaders and political leaders. One that is of good intent for nation-building and not for political scores. One that, instead of infighting among ourselves, is razor focussed on how we should compete against our neighbours. One that has a shared positive outcome for all Malaysians.

But now, all we hear across the stage are but lone respectable voices of a few. Even politicians nowadays are held hostage to the demands of the seemingly growing far right. As a minority in Malaysia, how can we not be fearful for the future of Malaysia? - FMT

Dr Dickson Kay is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.