My Runaway Malaysian Friend

In my vocabulary, a runaway is someone who runs away from a place to seek love, or refuge or simply a change of scenery. Usually, it is associated with teenagers running away from home, or lovers being denied their right to be with the beloved of their choice.

I am thinking of a dear friend as I write this. And this is written for and about her.

Backdrop

Malaysia has just completed her 14th General Elections with stunning results.

The ruling coaltion, The National Front, that has had an iron grip rule over the country for 6 decades was voted out of power by the rakyat.

My friend

She is a dear friend and former colleague. She emigrated to Australia with her 2 sons and husband just over 1 year ago to seek a better life.

She said that life in Malaysia was getting more difficult.

Things were getting expensive. Education was of inferior quality, which is why she chose to pay hefty private school fees for her sons. The ruling coalition was not governing the country right, government leaders were corrupt and ineffective.

All common complaints of the rakyat.

Before she emigrated, and when I first met her, she had never voted in her life. Hearing her complaints during one of our lunch conversations, I asked if she was a registered voter. She shyly said that she was not. Needless to say, I was flabbergasted and urged her to register to vote.

"If you want to complain about your government, then you should vote to change it."

She voted once before she chose to emigrate.

May 5. 2018

My friend and I were chatting online. Elections were days away.

I asked if she had voted via postal ballot as she now lives in Australia. She said, "No, because the government was making it difficult to vote via postal ballot."

She added, "Hope the best for our country"

I lost it! I told her, "Sometimes hoping is not enough." I had a few more choice words for her.

I was completely disappointed in her. For all her educational and professional background, she failed to see the importance of her right to vote. She complains about the Malaysian government and how her homeland is rotting away.

Yet she does not even vote to bring change. Or attempt to bring change. She is not a citizen of Australia yet. She is merely a PR.

Choose to run away

And she plays no role in nation building.

What has she done? She has chosen to run away to another country that is willing to take her and her family in, a country she deems better than Malaysia.

Sure, it's a free world. And it is almost borderless today. She has every right to move away and make another country her homeland.

After the National Front defeat in the elections, she happily messages me on May 10 to declare that "The Opposition has won!"

My dear friend, you are a Runaway Malaysian. Remiss in your duty as a rakyat of our beautiful, sunny and prosperous nation.

I wish you well in your adopted homeland.

And do teach your sons to vote.