Three Issues , One answer..!

Reading through this Sunday's Star, I found that the issues raised on "Stateless Malaysians", "Brain Drain" and "Unskilled Local Labour", can, surprisingly be answered with one word. Allow me to elaborate.

In the first news report, Number of Stateless Malaysians stun even Hishamuddin it was reported that the Home Minister said that the National Registration Department's mobile units had found that as many as 30,000 people did not have MyKad, 96,000 people did not have birth certificates and more than 60,000 people were holders of red identity cards, mostly in Sarawak..."

In the Sunday Star focus column Tracing the brain drain trend .. Dr Fong Chan Onn was reported to have said, "..As I have elaborated at the beginning of this article, under Malaysian law, a child born overseas to a Malaysian mother, whose husband is a non-Malaysian, is not entitled to Malaysian citizenship or even permanent resident (PR) status. This large pool of talent is just kept out of our shores. I vividly remember Datuk Syed Norulzaman (a retired Malaysian ambassador) lamenting to me last month over dinner about how his daughter, a JPA medical scholar at Dublin, worked hard over the years to qualify as a medical specialist. She unfortunately could not return to serve Malaysia because she married her Norwegian classmate, and their children are classified as non-Malaysians. With tears in his eyes, he said he had never felt so helpless as an ambassador because he could not explain to his daughter why Malaysia does not accept her children. And of the thousands of talented foreign spouses who have returned to Malaysia with their Malaysian husbands, what is happening to them? Medical experts, top-notch scientists or experienced teachers they may be, but they are not even accorded PR status and are not allowed to work here, their adopted home..."

And finally, in the Sunday Editorial,Shift Gear to Higher mode Senior Editor Wong Chun Wai said,".. Recently, I decided to hire a Malay­sian who had migrated to New Zealand as a trainer under a one-year contract. There were so many obstacles along the way that we finally gave up. It was easier hiring a foreign toilet cleaner... "

One word suffices to explain the reason for those issues raised above, the the word is "Distrust". Why is it so, after more than 50 years of Merdeka, that those entrusted with the formulation and implementation of Govt policies still distrust anyone who is a non Malay, or who is even associated with a non Malay? A look at the full stadium of Malaysians cheering our Thomas Cup Badminton team in their match against Denmark show that there is nothing wrong with Malaysian unity in diversity. And I personally think also there is nothing wrong with the 1Malaysia concept, if articulated with sincerity. Coming back to those issues raised in the papers today,

• why is it so tough for Malaysians born in Malaysia to get their Birth certificates and subsequently MyKads? It's a shameful thing for a citizen to have to hold on to a Red card, and treated like a 'pariah'
  
• Why do we distrust spouses and children who are married to Malaysians? If we don't even respect a Malaysian's choice of spouse, and expect him to treat his family again like pariahs, what would he think of his own country?
• If a Malaysian, who is qualified and wants to return to contribute to his country, why treat him with the same status as a foreign toilet cleaner? What is wrong with him having worked overseas, if his own country did not have provide the same opportunities at that particular time?

The Government can only succeed in its objective of an inclusive 1Malaysia, if it sincerely embraces all citizens, and accepts them as equals. And the first thing it has to do, is to actively eliminate all forms of actions that show and sow distrust among its citizens. Will citizens vote for a Government that treats them like other foreigners?

We must WALK THE TALK, but at the moment, it's more like balancing on a tightrope

Distrust the reason for one of our major woes