A letter via e-mail that I sent to Malaysian students in Cardiff, UK:
Salam and greetings to all,
I’m hope you are all in the best of your health, enjoying the oh-so-brisk British summer. But whilst you’re savoring the first few rays of the summer sun, I beg that you spare a thought for those of us in Malaysia.
I’m sure you’ve heard of it, but the price of fuel here has increased by 40%. We wait with bated breath for the domino effect to kick in; when everything else under the Malaysian sun will see an increase. Most of us expected the subsidy to be reduced in order to cope with spiraling global oil prices, yet it is beyond our wildest expectation that this subsidy of which we depend our livelihood upon would be yanked from right underneath our feet in less than 8 hours time.
Yes my fellow Malaysians, things are not all rosy here in our ibu pertiwi. In fact, things look rather grim over here.
A fresh graduate, with an income of around RM2,000-RM2,500 will find it difficult to survive in our cities. What more breadwinners with earnings less than that? How in the world are we supposed to make do with what we have? We have no minimum wage to fall back on. Many foresee an increase in crime rates as a direct result of this increase in the cost of living.
We have been told to change our lifesyle to adapt. Yet we look in envy and dismay at the very people who told us to change as they themselves do not practice what they preach; still living a lavish lifestyle while we struggle to make ends meet.
But I will still urge you to come home. Even if logic dictates that the British grass is way greener. Come home because you love your country, even though you feel that sometimes, your country don’t really love you all that much.
No, my dear perantau, come home and make this country better. Come home and bring change. More than ever, your tanah tumpahnya darahku needs you.
For now, spare a thought for your fellow Malaysians. All we can do right now is be thankful that we have such caring government.
Syah, I share your sentiment with this one.
It’s funny when I googled brain drain, the first result was its definition in Wikipedia. Next one on the list interestingly, displayed these words: “Malaysia is facing a severe brain drain…” And the search wasn’t even on Malaysia-specific sites.