Between 2006 and 2016 56,576 Malaysians renounced their citizenship. According to a World Bank report in 2011, the number of skilled Malaysians living abroad rose 300 per cent in the last two decades, with two out of every ten Malaysians with tertiary education opting to leave. Minorities leaving the country regularly cite discriminatory practices and policies as reasons for moving abroad.
Despite Malaysia’s brain drain reaching a critical stage, we still have rampant racism displayed whenever possible, in the country. Ruling politicians and even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, seem to give these racist rants a tacit endorsement by keeping quiet. Last week, UMNO Youth bonded with Malay rights group Perkasa to question the 46% stake in Malindo Air, now held by chief executive officer Chandran Rama Murthy and his wife.
To outsiders this would seem like making a big fuss over nothing. They are right, because a Malaysian Indian holding a controlling share in an airline isn’t wrong. Especially after Najib’s emotional speech to do away with Indian poverty during the launch of the Malaysian Indian Blueprint (MIB). Clearly this so-called Indian blueprint is a sham when Indian cannot even get blue ICs and a Malaysian Indian’s ownership of an airline is questioned.
But not even two months after this show of solidarity, we have taunts and demands for an explanation by both UMNO and Perkasa who are irked that an Indian is doing well. The issue of blue ICs and statelessness remains unresolved. The Malaysian Indian Blueprint remains just a blueprint. This is deeply worrying. We need to go beyond this racist game that ruling politicians play.
Instead of equal opportunities, competency and fairness, the current system of favouring an individual or group based on race and religion is politicised to maintain the status quo of those in power. It is time to stop playing these dangerous racial games of those in power. Should we be envious of a Malaysian’s success and wish him ill just because he is not from a particular ethnic group?
After 60 years of Merdeka, why are we still questioning one another, not on the basis of who we are but where we come from? Questioning Rama Murthy is no different from UMNO suddenly questioning the Indian origins of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s ancestors(even though that never became a problem when he was Prime Minister for 22 years), to the extent that UMNO even confused his grandfather from his father.
A government that continues to question its citizens’ background is not fit to be a government. There is still some cause for hope for us, when ex-Malaysia Airlines chief executive officer Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, asked what was the fuss all about in response to Perkasa and UMNO Youth questioning Malindo’s ownership of Malindo CEO Chandran Rama Murthy and his wife, “He is Malaysian. That is all that matters.”
Is one not good enough despite his achievements, academic credentials and qualifications just because he has a different skin colour? We need to start afresh after 60 years of Merdeka, by going back to basics on what it means to be a Malaysian when we achieved Merdeka in 1957. We can all start by embracing our Malaysianness by recognising Rama Murthy’s success and wish him well.
Celebrate or criticise Malindo on merits, not on the basis of who owns the airline!