Malaysia through the eyes of our children

Depending on who you speak to, much can be said about the current state of our country.

For all the good that it is, an honest look at the Malaysia of today will reveal a nation choked by corruption, racial polarisation and religious politicisation.

The Malaysia of our children’s generation is far from being on the road to social maturity and economic growth. Instead it is in a state of deficit in the very basic aspects of what makes a country livable.

Safety

The Malaysia of today is one where walking to the park with your children is considered a safety risk.

Most urban residential areas have now been converted to gated and secured communities, and stories of snatch thefts, petty robberies and even attempted kidnappings have become so common that almost everyone has been – or knows someone who has been – a victim.

Malaysian women automatically hold their handbags away from the roads when they’re out on the streets for fear of snatch thefts; only fools would leave their mobile phones on the table while dining at a coffeeshop or restaurant; and leaving your front door unlocked and unguarded for even a minute is considered an act of grave idiocy.

Malaysians have become so used to living in fear, that living with it has become a way of life.

The possible reasons for the rising crime rate are a matter of debate, but rising poverty levels, unrestrained and poorly monitored immigration rules and an inefficient police force have largely been blamed for the drop in security.

Official government figures tell us that the overall crime rate is dropping, but the fact is that Malaysians don’t feel safe.

Affordable, quality education

The livability of any country is also determined by the strength of its education system. The rot in ours is a result of ever-changing policies and half-baked initiatives that only serve to confuse both the students and the teachers.

From the flip-flopping of policies (for example, the use of English or Bahasa Malaysia for the teaching of Science and Mathematics) to the numerous changes in curriculum, many Malaysians have lost faith in our education system.

At the tertiary level, the increasing number of local government and private universities may have created opportunities for more Malaysians to have a university education, but the quality of that education has come into serious question.

It is very telling of our education standards when our top universities – once the pride of this region – are now ranked nowhere near those of some of our neighbours.

Those who cannot afford the exorbitant fees of private and international institutions are left with little choice but to be subject to an education system that is fickle, ill-thought off and in some cases, unashamedly used for propaganda.

Studies have revealed that close to half of all Malaysian graduates remain unemployed six months after completing their studies. A recent survey by online job portal Jobstreet has even placed that figure as high as 55%!

Lack of English proficiency has been cited as the main reason for their unemployability, but the problem is really a reflection of the failure of our education system to produce graduates who are truly qualified and equipped.

The Malaysia of our children will have a high number of local graduates, but an equally high number of people with unrecognised qualifications, making them poor contributors to nation-building.

A Malaysian identity?

I am ethnic Chinese, but have never and will never identify with my ancestral land of China. I am proudly Malaysian, and that is something politics can never take from me. It is my strongest desire that my children will grow up with that same, if not stronger, sense of Malaysian identity.

But today, religious and racial politicking has deepened the distrust among the country’s different communities to the extent that the very term “Malaysian identity” has become more a confusing ideal than a reality for most people.

It has become a sort of “badge of honour” to declare that we have friends of different races when it shouldn’t even be deemed out-of-the-norm for a country that has always had a multi-racial makeup.

Malaysians are growing less understanding of those different from them, and the continuous political emphasis on “protecting” one’s race over another will only deepen this chasm.

Malaysia celebrates Mother’s Day today, and as a mother of three, my hope is that my children’s Malaysia will be one where they are safe to play in their own yards; one where they can believe that those entrusted with leadership will do so with responsibility and wisdom; and one where they feel like they really belong.

I still fight the urge to give up, and give in to my fears that my children will grow up in a land that has not only been robbed of its great economic potential, but one that stands to lose its uniqueness, its beauty and its passion.

But I am an optimist, and am reminded that that there is much to fight for.

We are deserving of a Malaysia that is better than the one I grew up in, and we have every right to demand a Malaysia that is greater than what it is today. – May 10, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.