New Malaysia springs from within us

Regardless of who wins elections, the nation is at its best when the people accept their differences and remain united.

I AM writing this column at the birthplace of Harry Potter, exactly 21 years and one day since the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the very first book in the series. I am on a “Potter Pilgrimage” in Edinburgh, a much-needed respite following nine months in an intensive masters’ course on public policy.

Time flies by these days. Next week, the 2017/18 batch of Chevening Scholarship recipients will have our farewell event. There are 44 Malaysians in this group, around 3% of the total.

With my time in Britain coming to an end, I am getting a feeling of déjà vu. Eight years ago, I was in this exact same position – leaving a country where I gained not only quality education but also lifelong friendships and enriching life lessons, to go home.

My return in 2010 was filled with anxiety and I must admit, forced me into a bout of depression that lasted three years. I felt that back in Malaysia, my wings would be clipped professionally.

Despite coming home then to an assured position with a public university, I felt I would have benefited more from working as a post-doctoral fellow in laboratories overseas rather than fighting for bench space and teaching students a curriculum that had not changed from the time I was myself a student there.

Worse, I did not realise how much Malaysia had changed in the four years I was away. Suddenly, the fact that I returned with a PhD from a laboratory that founded the cervical cancer vaccine did not matter as much as my hair, the way I dress, my weight and my marital status.

Petty things, but these are the issues I had to deal with. The Malaysia I returned to in 2010 was adamant in making me “the other”, and it was resolute in dividing and pitting Malaysians against each other.

Such rhetoric would make anyone sick. It took me three years, several professional counselling sessions and countless marathons to overcome my depressive state.

My new year’s resolution for 2013, the year I turned 30, was to instead contribute towards the Malaysian society that I want. I started volunteering my time and portions of my meagre salary to soup kitchens and social enterprises, started to meet more like-minded Malaysians and participated in gatherings that promote an inclusive multi- ethnic, interfaith society.

This time around, I will be returning to Malaysia with a lighter heart. The lingering post-GE14 euphoria notwithstanding, the lessons I have learnt after my first return will arm me with the necessary resilience to face old rhetoric and new challenges.

This past month, and even in my few days here in Edinburgh, I met Malaysians who have studied and worked overseas claiming that they are now ready and willing to return home.

I applaud them, but I hope that my journey as documented here will serve as a reminder to all of us that change doesn’t come overnight. Nor does it come without us, ourselves, making the necessary changes within.

Despite a new government, there is still discrimination, xenophobia and injustice.

Cases in point: the recent “suggestion” by the Human Resources Minister to only allow local cooks in restaurants; the early morning arrest of Siti Kasim for allegedly “kidnapping” an adult woman, although she was acting as a lawyer for the woman when providing her with lodging; and the backlash against ministerial press statements in languages other than Bahasa Malaysia.

Despite a new government and more women in Cabinet, as state representatives and in politics than ever before, women are still objectified and vilified for our choices.

Strangers will still police what we wear. Colleagues will still question why Malay women do not wear the tudung, are not married, have not had children or are not having more children, and speak predominantly in English. And Internet trolls still call out our weight and body shapes.

Despite a new government formed by a coalition with two mul- tiracial parties, there are still those who question a multi-ethnic open house held recently at the Prime Minister’s residence, calling it a Chinese New Year celebration rather than a Hari Raya open house.

There are still those who continue to divide, incite racial tensions and spread animosity.

Yet, I have learnt that regardless of who is in power, Malaysians can always be counted upon to surprise even the most cynical of us and come together, especially for a good cause.

Any call for help will be responded to with enthusiasm, showing that indeed, our strength lies in our ability to come together while maintaining our diversity.

Rome was not built in a day. It is the same with Malaysia; it is still a work in progress. To those of us returning home, learn to contribute as well as embrace the eccentricities known only to us.

Let this New Malaysia be what we all hope for.

Lyana Khairuddin is a CheveningKhazanah Scholar who pursued a Master of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. The views expressed here are entirely her own.