By B. Venugopal | May 20, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
MAY 20 — I would like to provide some feedback on the reasons I left the motherland and headed for greener pastures here in Australia. First and foremost is the biased and preferential treatment given to Malays ahead of other races in the country.
As a country that has been independent for 50 years and more, it is disgraceful that the government condones open racist practices through the lack of meritocracy in the universities, the lack of opportunities for non-Malays working in government agencies and if they do work in the government there is a quota system used for promotion to the highest level.
There is also the insistence of the government to include religion in all areas of our daily lives from work, to school and to functions when clearly, religion is a personal thing and should be practised individually without the government interfering.
Last but not least is the total lack of protection given to an individual, for example, the two people have fallen to their deaths from Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) offices. The police personnel also do not provide any protection whatsoever to the general population.
This is just but a brief insight into a lot more complaints and reasons why many non-Malays have left the country. We do not want to be discriminated against because of our race and religion.
That is why, in the West, religion is separate from government and the best people for the job are promoted, and even if there is bias, it’s not propagated by the government like how Umno uses Utusan Malaysia to target Indians and Chinese when most times, we could be third- or fourth-generation Malaysians and clearly more Malaysian than the Indonesian migrants brought in.
* We asked readers who have migrated to tell us in their own words why they left. This is one of the stories.