the Malaysian Dilemma

Whenever i am in a foreign land and some one asks me where i am from, i'd tell them "Malaysia". Depending on your point of view, you may or may not be surprised at the various reactions that follow. Americans would immediately frown and start querying me about our country's dubious honour of being a human smuggling hub or how the Malaysian government has so done us/itself not proud. Or they would just clam up immediately and stop conversing with me after a snort of disapproval. Singaporeans generally look on us as "Johor chut lai ge lang" in hokkien meaning people who come out from Johor across the causeway into their little island. Indonesians have a generally favourable impression though you'd be prone to be doubtful once you've read the comments posted by some Indonesian Ultras about Malaysia on the web. Filipinos are a mixed base, some feel that "everything about Malaysia is wrong" while others are quite neutral about us. Westerners in general would query me about "why half of Malaysia is in their backyard", be it in Australia or Britain. I often come away from my first meetings with foreigners feeling a sense of dejection at the response that i get. On average, Malaysia hasn't fared very well. Badly, in fact. People had a better impression of me BEFORE i told them which country i was from. And why is this? Because our government cavorts with less-than-wholesome figures on the international stage? This is a legacy from the Mahathir Administration which was constantly at loggerheads with the West in particular. After being labelled "recalcitrant" by former Aussie PM Paul Keating, mahathir's world-wide captive audience must have trebled overnight, publicity-shy he is not. And the old man simply wouldn't shut up even now that he is officially no longer Prime Minister of Malaysia. Could it also be the things that some Malaysians do overseas or at home even that give us all a bad name? From Malaysians travelling abroad as drug mules or plane jumpers/throwers/illegal immigrants, Malaysian-based syndicates counterfeiting everything from CDs to Credit Cards, Malaysian top student turned hooker to Malaysian companies illegally cutting timber in Papua New Guinea or some third world country or even closer to home in Sarawak state and being tagged as robber-baron companies? I attribute such faults to be a lack of education or civic-mindedness on our part. That in turn is the fault of the Malaysian education system, and by implication, the fault of the Malaysian government. It is heartening that the Najib administration has taken tentative steps to get on a better footing with the West and other countries that MATTER in the world and not cosy up to some dictator crackpot chickenshit regime halfway across the globe because my enemy's enemy is my friend. But of course, substance matters at the end of the day. Foreigners will be watching Malaysia very closely to see whether the current Malaysian government is truly reforming or is merely paying lip service to "reform" while business goes on as usual. Take the current drive to reduce subsidies and the budget deficit. Both are commendable efforts. The government has also embarked upon a campaign of educating the public on the prices of goods and passed anti-profiteering legislation. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so it remains to be seen how effective enforcement of such laws are. It would be tragic that, if because it is now actually doing what ought to be done, the government's political support begins to evaporate on public perception that subsidies are the people's God-given right and if you fail to support me, i too, will not give you my support. I have been a harsh critic of the government and i am not alone in thinking that Najib was not the best choice of candidate for Prime Minister in any given situation. But if we are stuck with what/whomever is declared by the powers-that-be to be our top dog and unless this government actually LOSES in the 13th General Elections (to be declared by 2013), we will just have to put up with the status quo in the hope that genuine change with the current regime is indeed a real possibility and not just another Public Relations job as we have become so weary of.