Will the dream realised now shatter?

DRIVEN by desperation, my father borrowed money for a perilous boat journey from China and across the South China Sea to the then Malaya, in search of a better life with my mother, eldest brother and sister and a single mother. He left behind a village suffering extreme hardship then, with most barely able to put food on the table.

Having survived the perilous boat journey, my father’s next big task was to find work and this was indeed a monumental task in a land which was totally alien to him. Desperation drove him to try his hand at various jobs, which included making crude cigars, tailoring and rubber tapping. It was in rubber tapping that he finally settled down to a more defined livelihood. In fact, the whole family finally became rubber tappers – my parents, my eldest brother and two elder sisters. Only my second brother, my younger sister and I, being the three youngest in the family, were fortunate enough to attend school.

Years of rubber tapping enabled the family to save sufficiently to own a small-holding years later. And that started a more comfortable and more settled life for all of us. Though his achievement is no comparison to many other much more successful contemporary businessmen, my father’s dream of providing a brighter future for the family was commendable. He left China penniless and left the world with a small fortune – a feat much admired by all of us and our relatives. Indeed, to my late father, it was a dream realised.

I was educated in a mission school, and my teachers were all college-trained. Though under qualified by present-day standards, these teachers went about teaching us with sincerity and passion. To these teachers, I offer my sincere thanks. Being educated in a fine mission school, my dream was nothing less than a bright future in a bountiful country like Malaysia. Although we did not enjoy the services of career guidance teachers as present-day students do, we left school full of hope, all because we had gone through years of fine schooling.

Though most of my classmates were Chinese, we also had Indian and Malay classmates, but back then, we all knew every classmate as just a classmate. There was no race classification when we played together or when we had camping adventures together. We had picnics and outings together as mere classmates. We visited each other during Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali. We were colour-blind and treated each other the same.

Each and every one of us had our own ambition and dream, with one common denominator – to be successful in life in our own way. Race considerations and policies were never in our minds then. Compared with what my father went through, we were much better off, and because of education opportunities, our starting point was at a much higher level. Generally speaking, education provided us with more options.

The first three Prime Ministers and their Cabinet ministers went about making speeches about development plans and what we needed to do as the rakyat. I hardly heard any racial slurs being uttered (not that I can remember).

The vast difference between what I remember and what I see now led me to compare life then and now. What is happening? We hear of campaigns to boycott businesses owned by one race or to buy only from another particular race. Dignity, like respect is to be earned and not demanded. I have not heard of one race openly challenging another. How is it that the dignity of one race has eroded such that it needed to be arrested. If indeed so, who has caused this erosion?

Let us be honest with each other. Malaysia needs all races to cooperate, whether it is in business or otherwise. All races have their own expertise and strengths.

As long as we work together without suspicion and reservation, Malaysia will be the envy of many other countries. The road to prosperity needs the best brains, the brains of Malays, Chinese, Indians and all others.

Politicians who keep on harping along racial and religious lines are bent on dividing us, and they should be shunned.

If these politicians succeed, then my dream of a beautiful Malaysia is shattered.

YOW LOP SIAM Petaling Jaya