Malaysia-born Penny Wong’s appointment as foreign minister and the unexpected election of former police officer Sam Lim in Western Australia have been received with great pride in the Malaysian press and networks. social.
Key points:
- Malaysians have taken an unusual interest in Australian politics after Senator Wong and Mr Lim were elected
- Thousands of Malaysians renounce their citizenship every year when they acquire citizenship from another country
- Policies that favor the Malay-Muslim majority put the Chinese and Indians at a disadvantage.
It has also rekindled a family debate over the “brain drain”: the exodus of Malaysian specialists, especially ethnic minorities, which has been a long-term challenge for the Southeast Asian nation’s economy.
Malaysian MP Charles Santiago, congratulating Mr. Lim said Australia “benefits from the brain drain from Malaysia”.
Senator Wong, a powerful Labor Party figure, was recently sworn in as the Malaysian-born and ethnically Asian Prime Minister of Australia.
The Malaysian newspaper The Star interviewed Senator Wong’s brother, James, who still lives in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, and described his older sister as “loving and genuine.”
Senator Wong was born in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah State. (Reuters: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)
“Penny’s story should be an inspiration to our young Sabahans,” Wong said.
“Looking at the rise of a simple Sabahan girl in Australian politics means that the Sabahans have the potential to succeed and should not underestimate themselves.”
Meanwhile, during Mr Lim’s first appearance in the media as an elected MP, he spoke of growing up in a “very poor family” in Malaysia, with a leaky roof and no electricity.
The former Dolphin trainer, who has worked as a police officer in Malaysia and WA, defeated former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s close friend Ben Morton to become a member of Tangney in the suburbs of Perth.
James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at Tasmania University, said Malaysians had largely welcomed the news.
“Overall, the general comments are,‘ Well with these Malaysians, or ex-Malaysians, they have done very well for themselves, ’” he said.
Lim told local channel Free Malaysia Today in 2020 that due to a low salary working as a police officer in Malaysia, he had not been able to properly support his family.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, arrows up and down for volume. Clock time: 2 minutes 7 seconds 2m 7s New Tangney MP Lim Lim reflects on his work of dolphin trainer.
Professor Chin said that the transfer of Mr. Lim in Australia in 2002 was “really, very typical” of many middle-class Malaysians emigrating abroad.
“The usual place is Singapore and Australia because they are very close and there is already a well-established Malaysian community,” he said.
“Perth is just five hours away. You can catch a midnight flight from Kuala Lumpur and arrive at five in the morning.
“Perth has a huge Malaysian community … [and] is in the same time zone “.
Sam Lim won the highest police award in Western Australia in 2020 for his work with multicultural communities. (ABC News: Gian De Poloni)
“Protection from Malay”
Although the statistics are not available for free, it is reported that thousands of Malaysians renounce their citizenship each year when they become citizens of another country because Malaysia does not recognize dual citizenship.
Then-Interior Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told parliament in 2016 that 56,576 Malaysians had renounced their citizenship during the previous decade.
He said 90% of these people were Chinese.
Minority groups have long complained about discrimination in Malaysia.
Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country. (Reuters: Hasnoor Hussain)
The Malaysian Constitution has an article dedicated to “safeguarding[ing] the special position of the “Malays”, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group that makes up the majority of the country’s population.
As the Australian Department of the Interior notes on its website: “In the late 1960s, the Malaysian government introduced affirmative action policies in favor of Malaysian Indians.”
“These policies, combined with factors such as racial unrest and unfavorable socio – political conditions, have had a negative impact on Chinese and other minorities in Malaysia.
Malaysians whose ancestors came from South Asia are generally called Indian Malaysians. (ABC News: Max Walden / File)
“Many Malaysians of Chinese descent left the country during this period, migrating to Australia and other countries,” he says, noting that the Malaysian-born population in Australia doubled between the 1986 and 1991 censuses.
Although originally intended to be temporary and benefit disadvantaged Malays during British colonialism, policies, including greater access to government-funded scholarships and universities, public service employment and land purchase, continue. today.
Like the outward migration from Malaysia, especially from ethnic minorities.
The World Bank warned in 2011 that the brain drain was “intense” and likely to persist, leading to a shortage of qualifications and slowing Malaysia’s chances of becoming a high-income country.
Last month, the state of Johor in southern Malaysia, where Mr Lim grew up, set up a working group to focus on preventing the brain drain to neighboring, ethnic-majority Chinese Singapore.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian-Australian community has continued to grow.
Many Malaysians complain that racial discrimination is a barrier to economic opportunities. (ABC News: Max Walden / File)
Australia offers more opportunities for some Malaysians
There were more than 172,000 people born in Malaysia in Australia in 2021, up from 134,000 in 2011, according to estimates by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Malaysia ranked eighth among the countries of birth of the foreign-born population ahead of Italy, Greece and Lebanon.
James Chin says Malaysians have welcomed the successful campaigns of Senator Wong and Mr. Lim. (Supplied)
“Many middle-class people have given up on Malaysia,” said Professor Chin, in light of the political dysfunction of recent years.
He said there was “institutionalized racism” and a perceived lack of meritocracy in Malaysia, he said, where only those with personal connections were able to advance within the “Malay first” environment.
But the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Malaysia country report in 2021 said Australian officials had concluded that there were “low levels of official discrimination” against Chinese and Malaysian Indians.
“For the typical Chinese or Indian family, your chances of entering the public service are virtually nil,” said Professor Chin.
Manveen Maan, a Melbourne-based Malaysian Indian, agreed.
Manveen Maan says Australia offers more opportunities to people from diverse backgrounds. (Supplied)
Ms Maan, a government communications adviser, said she would have liked to work for her own government in Malaysia, but the common perception was that most places were reserved for Malaysians.
“The word on the street is that you won’t get very far, so why bother? And that’s if you walk in,” he said.
“The biggest irony is that I came to Australia, I’m not a citizen and I’m still working for the government here.
“The fact that you can come to Australia can be from an ethnic minority, you can be a woman and you can be chosen to represent your local council or local area and become a Member of Parliament.
“This speaks to the opportunities you have in Australia that you no longer necessarily have in Malaysia.”
The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been contacted for comment.
Posted 1 hour ago 1 hour Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 6:49 PM, last updated 42 m, 42 minutes ago, Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 7:50 PM