This is my country, I’ll not balik Tong San
By right, Malaysia should today be a rich, progressive and prosperous nation. But why is it not so?
By Chua Jui Meng, FMT
After 55 years of greed, plundering and emptying the national coffer, the Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno government is now living off borrowings.
According to Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Mukhriz Mahathir, the federal debt is at about RM800 billion.
That is why our economy is in tatters with the value of the ringgit shrinking fast (now at RM2.50 to S$1), cost of essentials and living rising and the people living in misery having to struggle to make ends meet daily.
That is why the rakyat (people) is at a political crossroad and have no choice but to change the corrupt BN-Umno before economic disaster befalls us as a bankrupt country.
Sabah’s RM40 million Musagate involving the state’s timber revenue and Sarawak’s multi-billionaire Taib Mahmud are two clear cases of super rich BN-Umno chief ministers who need not be accountable to their current wealth.
Malaysia is a blessed country with rich natural resources, including oil and gas, and the 26 million citizens should be reasonably comfortable financially. But they are not, especially the rural and urban poor.
In 1992, when I was in China, there were no cars on the roads, only bicycles and motorcycles. Not even Proton cars, don’t talk about Mercedes Benz.
After two decades, China has overtaken Japan as the biggest economy in the world.
BN-Umno leaders and their cronies can continue to tell us, the Chinese, to Balik Tong San (Go back to China), but I will not.
I was born in Malaysia, I reside in Malaysia and Malaysia is my country.
The Chinese in Johor must rise to give solid support to Pakatan Rakyat in the next general election for a more secure future.
We cannot rely on MCA anymore as it has proven to be only a “Yes Man” party to Umno. They only know how to continue to kiss the hands of Umno leaders for crumbs.
The Chinese must replace MCA with Pakatan parties whose New Development Policy will see restructures in both Small Medium Industries (SMIs) and Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs).
Chua Jui Meng is a PKR vice-president and Johor PKR chief. He is also a former MCA vice-president and an ex-Cabinet member.