A Letter to all Chinese

So, I guess most of y'all must have read my letter to all Malays. Now its your turn, Chinese! Haha anyhow I'm writing this to address the Chinese people of Malaysia and these are my thoughts concerning our current situation.

I'm sure most of the Chinese around are pretty happy with the election results. That's just stating the obvious, isn't it? For many of us, we view it as the downfall of UMNO's lordship and their abuse of power. It's true, they did abuse their power. And a lot of Chinese have felt increasingly being pushed aside by the policies and actions of UMNO.

One of the major 'complaints' the Chinese have is about the ridiculous quota system that was (and still is) in place for now. I'm sure many of us remember the fiasco that took place a few years ago when the top scorers for the STPM examinations were not able to pursue their ambitions as the local universities offered them courses like marine biology and stuff. Of course, I'm not looking down on marine biology but if that's not what someone wants, then it doesn't suit. Well yeah, these top scorers sure were disappointed that all their hard work had gone to waste. They couldn't even pursue what they wanted to.

The quota system also infects other areas, such as the giving of scholarships. The Chinese are definitely angry over this one. Cuz we feel we need to work so hard and long to get what we want, and there goes some guy who gets it without trying just because he's born with the right skin colour.

Promotions at the job? Quota's there too. My own mother once got sidelined even when she scored the highest in her firm's promotion test, because they had to give it to someone else for quota reasons. Fair? Surely not. Cause for grievance? Surely yes!

And who can forget about the whole 30% bumiputera equity thing? Surely everyone knows that this 'quota' has been abused to the utmost. Remember the ASLI report? And how it got shut up so quickly? I honestly don't know if the bumiputeras already have that 30% or not, but most people feel it's terribly unfair. Companies built up with sweat and blood have to give up 30% ownership to some bumiputeras who weren't there when the sweat and blood was spilled. Sometimes even forcefully, or so I hear.

The list goes on. From basic rights to keris-wielding, the Chinese have grievances aplenty.

And so where do we go from here? How do we reconcile these grievances? How do we foster a generation of Malaysians instead of Chinese, Indian and Malay? Can we ask the Chinese to just let go of all the past hurts and insults? To just forget all the hard work and toil they had to put in just to put their kids through college?

It sure isn't easy, but I'm gonna say this is where forgiveness comes in. Don't blame the Malays for 'getting it easy'. It wasn't their fault that a selfish and arrogant government played up the issue of Malay rights and silenced any objections by declaring them as 'questioning the Malay rights and supremacy'. Even now the government tries desperately to rally the Malays against the Opposition through the media and especially Malay newspapers.

Don't blame the entire race for the crimes one or two committed. Don't hold it against them for having a government that plays by racial politics. It's not their fault.

To all my Chinese brothers and sisters, stop fleeing the country! Yeah, the grass always seems greener on the other side. And people migrate for a better future. I believe God put us here for a reason. Sure, there are a lot of things wrong in our country. So, being Malaysians, let's work together to rebuild a better nation.

I can't solve the grievances the Chinese race has. No one can. But take a look at the new governments, especially the Malay MB's, like Khalid and Nizar. To me it sure looks like they're building Malaysia, not Malay. Let this speak to your hearts. Remember that during our parents' time, racism was unheard of. Malays, Indians and Chinese rubbed shoulders and shared meals. They visited one another. They were friends. So why do we persist on trying to be opposite sides of a planet when we're in the same place?

Forgive and forget. It's really not that difficult if we keep our eyes on the future instead of on the past.

Here's to a better nation.
Here's to a better tomorrow.
Here's to the death of racism.
Here's to forgiveness and love.
Here's to Malaysia.

That's what it means to be Malaysian.