Read this for background. Its an excellent piece.
There are many reasons why Malaysians abroad, working and earning abroad don't want to come home, and as far as the principle, "to each his own" holds true, none of us should begrudge them the opportunity they have. Having said that, some do want to come home and Malaysia should do all it can do to welcome them.
As a general rule, these Malaysians are the cream of the cream, the very best Malaysia has to offer the world -- it goes to reason that their presence in Malaysia, working here, putting their energies into our home society, can only serve to improve us as a nation. That's why so many incentives have been offered over the years to attract them home. Its not surprising that many have declined the offer. What is surprising is the reason some of them have given: rascism.
Malaysia is by-definition a multi-racial, multi-cultural phenomenon -- its been used as a "model" for other similarly diverse nations around the world e.g. South Africa. There is something very wrong with us is we are creating a country where even our own countrymen fear to tread just because of their race; its a double whammy for Malaysia that these people happen to be very, very talented. It doesn't make us a very good model, does it?
Soalan cepu emas: How long can we keep up our "success" without our nation's best people? There will be a "snapping point" where our current success will no longer be sustainable without their input -- we've come a long way and UMNO/BN should be applauded for that; but will we be good enough to take it to the next level unless systemic changes are made towards how we treat the best people our society has to offer?
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