COMMENT
by uppercaise
If talented foreigners
get special treatment
to come and live here, what about talented Malaysians who have lived here all their lives? Yesterday’s announcement of a new class of immigration permit gives a subtle hint:-
talented Malaysians are second-class.
The new 10-year residential pass, not tied to employers, with spouses given the right to work, applies to “talented” foreigners. (The Star calls them “gifted”. Presumably, that means they come bearing gifts for those that let them in.) Until official criteria are released, who knows how talent will be defined? (“Gifts” everybody understands.) Even then, few will know what unofficial criteria, the back-room criteria that officials determine among themselves and party cadres, will result in action.
Oh, incidentally, and by the way, “talented foreigners” also applies to those “traitor” Malaysians who emigrated years ago and who were then vilified by Umno officials, and sometimes MCA and MIC officials too, as “rubbish” for leaving. Most of them were Nons but in later years many non-Nons have also left.
(The word “traitor” of course applies to anyone who doesn’t kiss Umno’s racist arse.)
But now that you’re a Non-Malaysian, besides being a Non, you’re also welcome to the new long-stay permits. If you’re talented.
And when you arrive, you can be sure there will be huge gushing stories in the New Straits Times and the Star, being mostly read by the Nons. “Welcome home”, you can be sure they’ll say, even if they don’t believe it themselves.
Home?
But you’re no longer Malaysian. This is home? Can you still make noise about your rights? (Rights? You have rights?) Or about the state of the nation? It’s almost the same state of the nation that made you leave in the first place.
Only difference is, you can’t make noise about it now. So you can stay. Bring your money. And your talent. Share your skills and knowledge among us non-talented and the non-Nons. Help to develop the “nation”. Use your expertise to make money for the ruling class of the keris party and their second-class partners.
As for talented native-born Malaysians, especially the talented Nons (Talent? You have talent?) the message is simple — go away and be talented elsewhere. After that you can come back.
In other words, give up your rights,
then your talent will be recognised.
