Malaysia Day reflections: Hopes and Aspirations of those who call Malaysia their home

As I reflect on this Malaysia Day weekend, most probably my last Malaysia Day as a Member of Parliament (MP), my thoughts to go a number of people I have come across who have different hopes and aspirations for their lives and the lives of their loved ones in this country they (want to) call home. They have different stories and come from different backgrounds and are facing different challenges in their respective lives. The one thing which unites them is their desire for a better future for themselves and their families in this land. But this can only happen if we have more humane, more responsive, and more progressive government policies to address each of their unique challenges. I want to share their individual stories so that you can catch a glimpse into their lives and what can be done to help each of them achieve their own “Malaysian Dream”.[1]

Dr Jasmine Yip is a dental specialist who used to serve in a health clinic (“klinik kesihatan”) in Bangi. She married a Taiwan national while she was studying and undergoing her dental training at the Taipei Medical University. Her daughter was born in Taiwan in 2017. Since then, she has been trying, unsuccessfully, to apply for Malaysian citizenship for her daughter. She returned home to Malaysia and was serving as a Dental Officer with the Ministry of Health. During this time, she was also busy taking care of her daughter who has eczema and applying to the Ministry of Home Affairs for her daughter’s citizenship. And she was so close. We suspect that she was one of the 33 successful applicants that was highlighted in the parliamentary reply to the MP from Sekijang, my colleague Puan Hajah Natrah Ismail. And she was even asked to pay RM30 by the National Registration Department (NRD) for her daughter’s birth certificate (Appendix 1). But her efforts were denied when the Court of Appeal, on the 5th of August 2022, overturned the High Court ruling that children born to Malaysian mothers overseas were entitled to Malaysian citizenship.[2] I was with Dr Yip at the NRD office in Putrajaya when the officer in question said that he was not allowed to hand over Dr Yip’s daughter’s birth certificate because of the CoA ruling. Dr Yip has since resigned from her position at MoH and is now back in Taiwan with her daughter and her husband. Will she return to Malaysia to collect her daughter’s Malaysian citizenship papers one day?

Aisyah is a former PhD student at a public university in Malaysia. Her story is one of great sadness and also hope. She told me of how her intellectual property had been “stolen” by her PhD supervisors who refused to acknowledge her in their published work and refused to pay her research assistant’s allowance. Her initial appeal to the Ethics Committee at this public university was rejected. After I managed to assist her in reopening the case, this committee concluded that it was all a “misunderstanding” between Aisyah and her former supervisors. Could it be that she is a lupus patient and that her condition made her more susceptible to being taken advantage of? She contracted COVID19 in August 2021 and it almost claimed her life because of her underlying conditions. Thankfully, a transfer from the Kajang Hospital to Universiti Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) enabled her to recover. With the assistance of the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Noraini Ahmad, her hospital bills accumulated from her one month stay at UMMC was taken care of. Aisyah currently must undergo dialysis and is suffering from lung infections as a result of long COVID. But I’m amazed at her resilience and spirit as she continues to live her life. She has a wonderfully supportive family, especially her mom who is always at her side. Because of her good command of both English and BM, she is taking courses to enhance her translation skills which she hopes to leverage into translation work which she can do from the comfort of her home. She has just finished the first draft of a book, which documents her life’s story and challenges. I’m working with Aisyah and Kata Pilar books[3] to get her life story published (Appendix 2). Will her story, when published, inspire, and educate a wider audience?

Jothi Letchumy[4] (her real name) recently completed her master’s in biomedical research[5] in the field of cardiac and vascular medicine at Imperial College, London. She received a scholarship from Imperial which covered her room and board and I assisted her in obtaining additional funding and scholarship, with the help of the Minister of Higher Education (MOHE), Dr Noraini Ahmad, to cover her tuition fees.[6] Jothi who hails from Penang, is from a B40 family and against many odds, including a challenging single parent environment growing up, succeeded in graduating with a Masters degree from the University Malaysia of Pahang (UMP), winning many awards and recognition along the way. She is a wonderfully positive person and an extremely hard worker. Unfortunately, despite doing very well in her research work at Imperial College, she is still in need of funding to continue her PhD studies at the same institution (Appendix 3). I will continue to assist where I can. But will Jothi be able to secure funding from a sponsoring institution in Malaysia so that she can return to build up research capabilities back in Malaysia after she completes her PhD?

Nelson (his real name) is the chairman of the Pasar Borneo in Seri Kembangan, a morning market which operates every Saturday morning, exclusively for traders from Sabah and Sarawak to sell their wares.[7] When the market was first started back in 2016, when I was the MP for Serdang, and when Nelson took over the leadership of the committee, he wasn’t sure if the market would last. Through patience, perseverance, and honest management, the pasar slowly built up a reputation as the place to be in the Klang Valley to buy East Malaysian products including favourites such as kolo mee and midin to the more exotic such as the sago worms or butad. Starting with 20 stalls, it now has more than 50 stalls which bustles with activity especially during celebrations of festivals such as Gawai & Kaamatan. The success of the Pasar Borneo in Seri Kembangan led to the opening of their first branch at Bangi Golf Resort (BGR), which was officially opened by tourism Minister, Nancy Shukri, in December 2021.[8] (Appendix 4) Nelson has been searching for a permanent location somewhere in the Klang Valley for the Pasar Borneo so that the traders can have a proper place to store their goods and organize events and celebrations as a community. He also hopes that there can be more of such Pasar Borneos in the rest of Peninsular Malaysia so that more West Malaysians can appreciate and understand the culture of East Malaysians. Will his dream of building stronger ties between East and West Malaysia come to fruition?

Dahlia is a staff member at an ecotourism company based in Tawau, Sabah. I met her last month when she led a group of 17 of us on a 5-day 4-night expedition into Maliau Basin[9], otherwise known as the “Lost World of Sabah” (Appendix 5). COVID19 was really bad for business but she is glad that adventurers from West and East Malaysia are coming to Maliau and making up for the overseas adventurers who have yet to return in large numbers. She is comfortable in Tawau doing what she is doing but she wonders if there are more opportunities for her to explore perhaps in Kota Kinabalu and maybe even in West Malaysia?

Kim is a Vietnamese mother with two Malaysian children currently living in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam. I got to know her and her family when I rescued them in my kayak during the flooding which took place in December 2021. I visited them about two weeks after the floods to pass some electrical appliances to them and to others I rescued in Taman Sri Muda. It was then when I found out that her husband, who is originally from Tanjung Sepat, Selangor, was suffering from terminal lung cancer. He passed away shortly after Chinese New Year in 2022. When I found out that no one was assisting her kids, Jason and Ellen, to get their vaccination shots, I stepped in and made the appointments for them. I also provided the transportation for them to go to the venues for their 1st and 2nd vaccination. Kim sells fruits in a coffee shop in Taman Sri Muda to support herself and her kids. Currently, her biggest concern is renewing her visa without her husband. Support from her husband’s family does not seem to be forthcoming. Will she be able to renew her visa and continue to stay in Malaysia or will she be forced to take her children back to Vietnam, a place which is totally foreign to them?

Mohd Ali is a Rohingya refugee living in Puchong. I met him when I was doing a mobile vaccination program for the migrant community in Taming Jaya, Balakong, and my team needed a few Rohingya translators to talk to their community members to find out their vaccination status. He works for an NGO that helps the refugee community in the Klang Valley. I was quite surprised when he called me out by name and that he knew of my education qualifications. He expressed his own desire to pursue a degree at the local university and perhaps to continue at the Masters and even PhD level overseas if the right opportunities were available. Given his documentation status, even the option of pursuing his undergraduate education in Malaysia would be challenging. But I admired his positive spirit and determination. I’ve since lost touch with him but I do wonder if he has managed to get closer to his dream of studying in a university in Malaysia?

At a time when the political rhetoric in the country is getting increasingly divisive as we move closer to the next general election, it is important to remember what it is we are fighting for as politicians. Our responsibility is to make Malaysia a more welcoming, inclusive, fair, progressive, and hopeful place for people like Dr Yip and her daughter, for Aisyah, for Jothi, for Nelson, for Dahlia, for Kim and her two children Jason and Ellen, for Mohd Ali, and for many others like them. My Malaysian dream is for all these people to find their own version of the Malaysian dream in our beloved country.

Appendix 1: Parliamentary Reply to YB Puan Hajah Natrah Bt Ismail (Sekijang), Reply from JPN & Photo with the Dr Yip, her daughter and her sister and her sister’s daughter

Appendix 2: Photo with Aisyah & a Member of the Editorial Team from Kata Pilar Books

Appendix 3: Recommendation letter for Jothi Letchumy from her advisors at Imperial College, London

Appendix 4: Event with Datin Masdiana Mohamad, wife of the Menteri Besar of Selangor, at the Pasar Borneo Seri Kembangan (top) and the official opening of the Pasar Borneo at Bangi Golf Resort by Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism (bottom)

Appendix 5: Dahlia leading a group of 17 adventurers (including myself) to Maliau Basin, Sabah

Appendix 6: Kim with her children, waiting for the 2nd vaccine shot (top) Jason & Ellen post 2nd vaccination (bottom)

Appendix 7: Interviewing the migrant community at Taming Jaya, Balakong to ascertain their vaccination status (together with agencies including the International Red Crescent and volunteers from UNHCR & Libera8)

[1] The names of the individuals in this statement are not their real names (unless otherwise stated).

[9] https://www.facebook.com/oobahventure/posts/pfbid02Ynhd8LrfDRzqD68GSuAVnc7dz6tY7LCoBrLrfgXMDSRuBvPg6gfcDFz5yNpdpv3yl