Are we Malaysians that weak?

I am utterly sad hearing my good friends plan to give up their citizenships because they believe that New Zealand, Australia and the U.S could provide them better living standards. What with the continuous political storm banging the country, the endless debates on racial quotas and meritocracy. They keep on pointing out that people in Singapore have 4 times our GDP per capita, better education and amenities.

Simply put, many plan to leave the shithole for fresher air.

I am not going to judge them for their decisions nor would I condemn any of it. They have the right to do so, especially the ones whom skin are a tad too dark or far too fair. The country's social contract is indeed oppressive and lopsided.

Patience, my friends, is a virtue.

Its true that Malaysia is the humbler, slower runner on the Asian track. When we were still proud of the 488m KLCC, Dubai's Burj Khalifa had already reached 1.2km. When we finished building the largest airport in SEA, Singapore opened its new terminal beating us by a few football fields in size, not long after that Suvarnabhumi pushed us to the 3rd place. Still, we can be proud to be the home of the most prominent low-cost carrier in Asia. Though it is a somehow less glamorous category, we do have something that tops other people. Lets hope it stays that way for a long time.

Remember the Malayan Union? Believe it or not, historians believed that it was perhaps our only chance to be like the current Australia or New Zealand. Our forefathers, however, chose to take a harder path. To be independent completely and be off the Brits' hands peacefully, to rule on our own. It was perhaps one of the boldest, and craziest decisions an Asian country had ever made in the 1950s. Malaya was a vast, damp mining site with little chance to be developed. Perhaps Britain even laughed at the idea of uniting 11 states (10 in peninsular, including then-Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak joined later), most of which had been exploited, left with scarce valuable minerals, and no industrial developments whatsoever, save some small cities here and there.

Despite the raised western eyebrows, despite the lack of technology and poor government funds 54 years ago, we managed to survive. We crawled slowly, and later learned to get up and stand on our own. It wasn't a miracle. It was the strong bond which bound more than three races together under one flag that moved the country's muscles, pulled her tendons and stabilized her walk. There wouldn't be the now-Malaysia without the Malays being expert at agriculture, or the Chinese who strengthened the tradings both locally and internationally, or the Indians who worked hard in the rubber estates, and in the long run produced many prominent doctors and lawyers.

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Yes, sadly, Malaysia is always the underdog in the extremely competitive world today. We have rich natural resources and plenty of professional labors, yet these are not enough to please everyone. Other countries are developing much faster forward into the future, and our eager citizens refuse to be left behind and prepare to leave their birthplace and playground because they believe they deserve something or someplace better.

Tell me my friends, did our forefathers forsake this land when they had the chance? After May 13th 1969, did the Chinese lose hope on the constitution? A scar it was, but we didn't lose hope. We fell bloody on that day and the stain is still seen today. But just a stain it should be, nothing more.

Yes, the government today is far from being transparent, nor it is efficient and in fact democracy is starting to bleed again. We, the citizens are actually alone in the world. Isolated from true friends. Those who are willing to help us have ulterior intentions. The fate of our nation's future is indeed in our hands. Letting her go when she needs us most is like leaving a couple of biscuits on the table to go mouldy and blame the air, the humidity, the weather, the temperature and a thousand other things, when we could've and should've stored them securely in a jar before it went bad in the first place.

Patience, my friends, is a virtue.

What we lack today could be made up by having some faith that the future could be brighter. Our airport is one of the lousiest today, but do recall that it was once the most glorious in the reigion. KLCC fell a few ranks below but do remember that it used to be the tallest building in the world.

We were once the best at these, but now we aren't. Don't despair! Look at it from another point of view. We did put Singapore beneath us once, mocked Bangkok's airport, complained Dubai was too hot, had nothing but camels and belly dancers to attract tourists. That was then, they fought and beat us in the match.

Are we so easily defeated? Do we just abandon the competition and leave as sour losers who change jerseys at the turn of things? It is ironic when parents nowadays tell their offsprings not to change girlfriends/boyfriends often, don't change jobs easily, don't change cars just because you can, don't change clothes if it is still clean, even. But when it comes to change passports, parents can actually loosen up and support it.

If i ever have a son one day, insyaAllah and his school bores him, I'd tell him to change his attitude, not change schools.