Malaysian Whining Attitude
Another post related to someone else's entry. Just read this article from Jordan's Malaysia's Two Solitudes, and I really do think all the Malaysians, especially the younger generation, should have a look at it. Jordan Macvay is a "Mat Salleh" Muslim from Rawang, Selangor, and a lecturer in International Islamic University Malaysia (updates: wrong, manager of a small language school, read comments). Jordan's article is one of the more reasonable and rational entries on the subject of Malaysia's racial issues.
One thing I do notice about the Malaysians (including myself), is that we love to whine. Nothing seems to be good enough for us, we moan about every single thing. In normal circumstances, complaining is not a bad thing, because criticizing does produce improvement. Not in our Malaysian’s case though. Just as Jordan said, we do not compromise each other; we bitch and nag, seldom provide any suggestion or action to develop the situation, yet we hope for a better tomorrow. Sadly, that culture is rooted in our younger generation as well. As an international student in Australia, I have seen far too many Malaysian students (here in Melbourne) nitpicking on every single thing whenever they encounter a problem. It amazes me how they (we) can find a scapegoat or a party to blame for each dilemma. The Malays will be condemning the food (non-halal), and the Chinese become all argumentative on financial issues (university’s fees, high currency etc). Sometimes I wonder why these people (no offence, especially those exchange students from Malaysia local university) came abroad to study in Australia if they dislike everything and anything here. I understand that there are problems such as hard to get along with Aussies because of the cultural differences, or café/restaurants normally close early (unlike the 24-7 systems in Malaysia), but I guess those are not the reasons to lock yourself up in your room eating instant food everyday. Yet the best solution you can come up with is bitching about how miserable your life is in a cyber chat room. I have seen people, who live with these troubles, and yet still enjoy their life in Melbourne (both Malays and Chinese).
Back to Malaysia’s local scene, I left Malaysia at end of 2002, and I was studying in Monash, Sunway. I went to Chinese primary and secondary school, but did my sixth form years in a Malay High School. Chinese primary school was a nightmare; you worked your ass off and get canned like 100 times a day, no playing after class because of tuitions and home work, all these just to get into the top class in a top school. The parents and teacher weren’t helping at all, they constantly reminded us how limited our chances were, and if we didn’t work hard, we were going to end up with nothing. The Chinese school’s system (both primary and secondary) were designed to make the student understand that if they are not within the top 20%, they are just losers (which is why we have the best class and worst class bullshits). In these situations, many of my secondary Chinese school friends (especially those from working class family) have strong discriminations against Malays with the idea that they are ripping off our chances. Then I went on to a Malay High School for my Form Six (I was in science stream), most of the Malay student actually hated us (the Chinese) for 2 reasons. First is the jealousy on how we performed much better in Mathematical or calculation subjects, and secondly is how we Chinese performed better and looked at them like bunch of losers. Then STPM is over and we all got our results. I got offered for a course that wasn’t my first choice (Bachelor of Science, and I wanted Bachelor of Computer science) in University Putra Malaysia, which I then rejected it and decided to further my studies in Monash University. Some of my other friends who didn’t have the luxury to enroll in a private education institution (because of the expensive fees) had no choice but to take the offer in local university, with or without their originally intended course. I don’t blame them for bitching about their difficulties and how unfair their situation is, but from time to time, I do question myself, are Malaysian Chinese really browbeaten? Well sure there can be much more enhancement for our citizen’s right, but at least we are in a much better situation than the Indonesian Chinese, at least we are still maintaining our own culture, speaking our own language and passing down our heritage to the younger generation.
Maybe you might think I am not the right person to comment on this issue because my daddy and mummy have the cash, but I guess sometimes we do have to look at ourselves before pointing fingers at others. Most importantly, suggest on something constructive. Comments and criticisms are for the purpose of improvement, rather than just for the sake of whining.