Thank you, Malaysians!
THIS month marks the 30th year of my arrival in Malaysia as an international student at a local university – and what a ride it has been. Not in my wildest dreams did I think I would make Malaysia my home, but I did. I was born in a third world country, brought up in a first world country and settled in Malaysia. I must say I was completely culture shocked when I first arrived, comparing life here and what I had been brought up with.
After three years here, I joined a student programme that had me live with a local family in a kampung in Perlis. They didn’t have much but they did everything to make me comfortable. They did not have a refrigerator so they set aside a cooler box so I could have cold water to drink. And the whole family of six stayed in one room and gave me the only other room all to myself. Their generosity and humbleness opened my eyes to who Malaysians truly were. After that, I started making an effort to learn Bahasa Malaysia and appreciate this country more.
Many things have happened during my 30 years here, some amazing, some surprising and others challenging but one thing has been constant and that is you, the Malaysian people. Throughout the good times of economic success and challenges of financial crises, Malaysians have stayed true to themselves. Malaysians have indeed done well for themselves. This is very apparent in the current Covid19 crisis. I am sure I speak for foreigners who live here when I say that we are glad and feel privileged to be in Malaysia during this global pandemic. In April when the infection rate was at its peak, it was uncertain what would happen. Many of us were scared, to be honest. However, the clear path to recovery set by the Prime Minister and his team, hard work of government servants, courageous work of the medical community and other frontliners and, most of all, ordinary Malaysians’ adherence to SOPs set by the authorities made us confident that all would be well. Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah’s calm press conferences kept us from panicking even when the numbers were increasing at first.
I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every Malaysian for keeping us and each other safe. None of this would have been possible without your cooperation. While there still are many countries where Covid-19 cases and deaths are soaring, Malaysia has managed to flatten the infection curve. For this, I congratulate you and look forward to many more prosperous and amazing years ahead.
Terima kasih!