Malaysia Day: We must be the Malaysians we wish we were

The article reflects on the dual perspectives of Malaysia, acknowledging the admiration it receives from foreigners while also addressing the issues of racism and xenophobia experienced by some visitors.

The author emphasizes the unity and resilience displayed by Malaysians during the pandemic but also highlights the need for greater transparency, equality, and reflection of positive values in the country's future.

Amid personal reflections on living in Malaysia, the author expresses hopes for a more inclusive and equitable society, urging Malaysians to embody these ideals and continue dreaming of a better Malaysia.

SEPT 16 — There was a time when social media wouldn’t stop showing me videos of foreigners coming to Malaysia and praising it to the skies.

I do think it’s important that we broaden our views and appreciate the perspectives these visitors give us.

Then we have videos from a creator who said she had never encountered as much racism as she had in Malaysia.

Her views matter too.

I think the time for romanticising living overseas is over; for many the doors have closed shut, and even if they did open they would find not lands of milk and honey but ones of suspicion and doubt.

It is strange that Malaysians complain when they are turned back from South Korea and Australia because of supposed racism but at the same time are so horrid to foreign workers and migrants here.

But perhaps it shows how in some ways we are just human, easily susceptible to xenophobia and colourism.

Yet one of the few things I clung to during the pandemic was how Malaysians came together to try and keep each other alive.

Malaysians helped feed and shelter foreign workers abandoned by their employers, shared tips on how to get vaccine slots, used the internet to signal for help and to find those signals.

All we had was each other and in the end, that is still all we really have, if we choose to remember.

Sixty-three years Malaysia has existed, and I have spent maybe more than a decade doing my best to remind people that Malaysia is more than one state or one people.

Facebook has also reminded me that I have stayed in this rental for over 17 years, longer than any house I have lived in all my life.

I moved to Selangor when I was 18, but before that I had brief stints in London and Manila, so yes, I have lived in West Malaysia longer than I ever have in Sabah.

So in many ways I have become a Petaling Jaya person now; I don’t ever want to leave.

Yet as the doors and gates of this crumbling house rot around me I have to think about some day finding a new nest and hope I do not have to sell a kidney to afford it.

Some days I scan iProperty and laugh at the sheer audacity of the listing prices.

”This would be perfect for those looking to remodel into your dream house,” and it’s a picture of an abandoned-looking house with mold all over the walls, and “spacious garden” being full of debris and overgrown weeds.

How much for this wondrous gem in the heart of PJ? RM2 million, apparently.

I have lived in an old, decaying house long enough to be able to recognise one by sight and I often pass many old houses with “For Sale/Rent” signs and immediately wonder if the roof had been waterproofed lately.

Speaking of old, decaying houses, Kuala Lumpur as it is now is dazzling and clean in ways that it wasn’t when I first moved here.

One night I stared at KL Tower in the distance, looking almost small and frail next to the towering buildings that surrounded it, with even the EQ hotel seeming to dwarf it.

Sometimes the things that happen in this country make me deeply unhappy.

Yet I know I would be just as miserable to be too far away from it, its comforts and the casual knowing that people I cared about were a phone call or train ride away.

We deserve better, I feel.

We deserve transparency. Politics that does not involve a new bogeyman of the week.

We deserve equality and prosperity for all, instead of being told our lives and our skills are worth less than a lying chatbot.

Yet I think too many of us think too much about this country being one that we deserve, but too little about being Malaysians who would embody the people of this ideal country.

We must reflect that good, that peace, that generosity in resources that we seek in this land we call ours.

I hope as more Malaysia Days come, our hearts do not harden, our courage does not falter, our dreams not be allowed to die.

Let us always dare to dream of a better Malaysia.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

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文章从双重角度审视了马来西亚，既肯定了外国人对马来西亚的赞赏，也探讨了一些游客所经历的种族主义和仇外心理问题。

作者强调了马来西亚人民在疫情期间展现出的团结和韧性，但也强调了国家未来需要更大的透明度、平等和积极价值观的体现。

在对马来西亚生活的个人反思中，作者表达了对一个更加包容和公平的社会的希望，并敦促马来西亚人践行这些理想，继续梦想一个更美好的马来西亚。

9月16日——曾几何时，社交媒体上不断出现外国人来到马来西亚并对它赞不绝口的视频。

我认为拓宽视野、欣赏这些访客带给我们的见解非常重要。

然后我们看到一位创作者发布的视频，她说她在马来西亚遭遇的种族歧视是她一生中遇到过最严重的。

她的观点也很重要。

我认为浪漫化海外生活的时代已经结束了；对许多人来说，大门已经关闭，即使大门再次打开，他们发现的也不是富饶之地，而是充满怀疑和猜忌的地方。

奇怪的是，马来西亚人因为所谓的种族歧视而被韩国和澳大利亚遣返时会抱怨，但与此同时，他们对待这里的外国工人和移民却非常恶劣。

但或许这表明，在某些方面，我们只是普通人，很容易受到仇外心理和肤色歧视的影响。

然而，在疫情期间，我少数几个坚持下来的事情之一，就是马来西亚人民团结起来，努力让彼此活下去。

马来西亚人帮助被雇主遗弃的外籍劳工解决温饱问题，分享如何获得疫苗接种名额的技巧，利用互联网发出求助信号并寻找求助信号。

我们曾经拥有的只有彼此，到最后，如果我们愿意记住的话，这仍然是我们真正拥有的一切。

马来西亚已经存在了63年，而我花了十多年时间尽我所能地提醒人们，马来西亚不仅仅是一个州或一个民族。

Facebook 也提醒我，我已经在这间出租屋里住了 17 年多，比我一生中住过的任何房子都长。

我18岁时搬到了雪兰莪，但在此之前，我曾在伦敦和马尼拉短暂居住过，所以是的，我在西马居住的时间比在沙巴居住的时间要长。

所以从很多方面来说，我现在已经成了八打灵再也人；我永远都不想离开这里。

然而，随着这栋摇摇欲坠的房子的门窗在我周围腐烂，我不得不考虑有朝一日要找个新家，并希望我不用卖肾就能负担得起。

有时我浏览 iProperty 网站，看到那些离谱的房价，忍不住哈哈大笑。

“对于那些想要改造成梦想家园的人来说，这将是完美的选择，”图片显示的是一栋看起来废弃的房子，墙壁上到处都是霉菌，“宽敞的花园”里堆满了垃圾和杂草。

这座位于八打灵再也市中心的绝美房产售价多少？据说是200万令吉。

我在一栋老旧破败的房子里住了足够长的时间，一眼就能认出这种房子。我经常路过许多挂着“出售/出租”标志的老房子，立刻就会想，这些房子的屋顶最近有没有做过防水处理。

说到老旧破败的房屋，如今的吉隆坡与我刚搬来时相比，已经焕然一新，干净整洁得多。

一天晚上，我凝视着远处的吉隆坡塔，在周围高耸入云的建筑群面前，它显得渺小而脆弱，就连 EQ 酒店都显得比它高大得多。

有时候，这个国家发生的事情让我感到非常难过。

但我知道，如果离它太远，离它的舒适环境太远，离我关心的人只需一个电话或一趟火车就能联系到他们，我也会同样痛苦。

我觉得我们应该得到更好的。

我们理应享有透明的政治环境，而不是每周都冒出一个新的替罪羊。

我们理应享有平等和繁荣，而不是被告知我们的生命和技能不如一个说谎的聊天机器人值钱。

但我认为，我们当中太多人过多地思考这个国家是否是我们应得的，却很少思考如何成为能够体现这个理想国家人民精神的马来西亚人。

我们必须体现我们所追求的这片土地上的美好、和平与慷慨。

我希望随着更多马来西亚日的到来，我们的心不会变得冷漠，我们的勇气不会动摇，我们的梦想不会破灭。

让我们永远敢于梦想一个更美好的马来西亚。

* 这是专栏作家的个人观点。

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