Another one that flew from our nest!

Every now and then our local dailies will sing praises of world standard achievements of supposedly 'Malaysians' where the only Malaysian thing about them would be their or their parent(s) place of birth. Malaysia probably had nothing to do with their grooming or nurturing! Or there may be a remote thread of a connection to her mother who was married once to a Malaysian, like in the case of the out-of-closet Penny Wong, the first Asian Finance Minister of Australia. Then there is the story of Sufiah Yusof, the Oxford Maths child prodigy turned social escort (₤130 pounds/hour) whose mother was Malaysian.The latest to join this list of celebrities is the Ipoh-born Tan Zhang Shan.

From the era of his predecessors in the late 70s, Singapore has been engaging in a devious plan to woo bright Malaysian across the causeway by dangling carrots in the form of ASEAN scholarship and tertiary education scholarships. Many of my classmates in Penang Free School are and have been contributing to the economy and the first world status that their new found motherland which is currently enjoying.
 Tan's achievement is laudable but deep inside Malaysia as a country should feel ashamed that we have failed to identify and groom him to be the nation's priceless asset. But then I supposed Tan does not fall in the nation's master plan and agenda (whatever it is...).

Ipoh-born, Cambridge educated, Malaysia’s loss, Singapore’s gain

By Mariam Mokhtar

Tan Zhong Shan

He did his parents proud, his teachers are equally elated, his birthplace is euphoric to claim he is one
of them, and his country would have been ecstatic. His name is Tan Zhongshan and he was born in Ipoh. He chose to read law at university because he said, “Being in the legal line gives you a chance to make changes that have a far-reaching effect.”
In June, Tan received a first–class honours in Bachelor of Arts (Law) at Queen’s College, Cambridge, one of the world’s top most universities. Cambridge, England’s second oldest university, usually contends with Oxford for first place in the UK university league tables.
Tan excelled as the top student in his final-year law examinations, but he also won the “Slaughter and May” prize, awarded by the Law Faculty for the student with the best overall performance. In addition, he managed to bag the Norton Rose Prize for Commercial Law, the Clifford Chance Prize for European Union Law and the Herbert Smith Prize for Conflict of Laws. Tan distinguished himself and was a source of help to his fellow students, according to his tutor and the dean of Queen’s college, Dr. Martin Dixon. Dr. Dixon said, ““He is probably the best Malaysian student I have seen in the last 10 years. He is the most able, dedicated and one of the most likeable students I have taught in more than 20 years at Cambridge. He works really hard, has great insight and intuition. He is a problem-solver, listens well and learns.” However, the 23-year-old Tan shrugged off his accomplishments which he said was due to “consistent work and a detailed understanding of the subjects.” Tan, who plays classical guitar, was modest about his success, “It was a pleasant surprise as it is hard to predict the end results.”
Sadly, this brilliant, young Malaysian will not be working in Malaysia. Tan, who has been in Singapore since August, expects to complete his Bar examinations by the end of 2011 and said, “I will also join the Singapore Legal Service in January”. After completing his A-levels at the Temasek Junior College, the Singapore Ministry of Education awarded him an Asean scholarship. Tan will not be the first nor last Malaysian who we let slip through our fingers. It makes many ordinary Malaysians quietly fill with rage that the policies of our government reward the mediocre or the ‘can-do’ types and ignore the best and the brightest. When will this madness end?
Our judiciary was one of the best in the region, but today, it is not fit for purpose. Sadly, we have clowns and fools to dictate how our courts are run. The best comedy act was played out recently in the Teoh Beng Hock trial when Thai pathologist Pornthip Rojanasunand was cross-examined by presumably the best of the attorney general’s bunch of merry-men. If that is how Malaysian lawmakers prefer to project their image to the world, then they really need their heads examined. We are haemorrhaging our best talent to countries that receive them with open arms. Record numbers of Malaysians are leaving – doctors, surgeons, nurses, lawyers, accountants, lecturers, engineers, quantity surveyors. We are experiencing the biggest exodus in our 53-year history. It is estimated that there are over 1 million Malaysians living and working abroad, many of whom are highly qualified personnel.
If the government thinks that it is only the non-Malays who are leaving then they are wrong. If Malays
are also leaving in large numbers then it should be obvious (which it is presumably to the ordinary man in the street but not to our government) that preferential treatment for Malays is not a major pull nor conducive to the normal thinking person.
What other countries do is to offer Malaysians opportunities - something which is not available, to the
majority of Malaysians, of whichever racial origin. Our government fails to realise that people need to
feel appreciated and thrive in conditions which stimulate personal development. Government interference in the things that affect the personal lives of its citizens is what has kept many overseas Malaysians away. At the end of the day, most people value the things that have to do with their quality of life (not just for themselves but especially for their families), the laws, bureaucracy and tax.
Apart from having the best brains, those who left are probably the more assertive ones, the highly
ambitious people who would have made good mentors, able and strong leaders. Their absence from
our system only weakens us, as a nation. Will these people return if the ISA is around? No. These people would probably find living in Malaysia under such conditions, like treading on eggshells. How about corruption, nepotism, cronyism, lack of transparency, limited civil service and educational
opportunities, questionable performance-based promotion, lack of freedom of worship, expression
and speech, unfair preferential housing, fear for their personal safety and lack of open tenders for
government contracts?
These are some of the things that are due for immediate review, but only if Najib is serious about
reversing the brain-drain and only if he wants to improve Malaysia’s economy and reputation. At a time when the country needs to tighten its belt and take effective measures to build a quality nation based on its human capital, Najib seems to build pointless monuments in mega-projects. Why not channel the funds and invest in its best resource – its people? Malaysia is now paying the price for its crippling policies which our government feels unable,incapable or fearful of changing. Najib recently warned us about the dangers of not embracing change. He is right. And we are all for it.Forget about directing Talent Corporation to search for these ‘overseas’ Malaysians. If Najib refuses to make the all-important changes in the country, they will not be swayed. So when will he legislate for change?
And one last thing: We congratulate Ipoh-born Tan Zhongshan on his outstanding achievements and wish him a bright future.

http://blog.limkitsiang.com/

Another two bites the dust*

16th April 2010
Another two bites the dust*…The green green grass of home**…

We cannot be living in the past all the time, can we? Every once in a while we must shake ourselves from our slumber, laurels and the shadow of the past and live in the present tense so that the future will so bright that we will have wear shades!
Another two bit the dust today, one to greener pastures and another to the after world. The former refers to our family friend who got admitted to Harvard for undergraduate studies while the latter refers to my dear friend’s father in law who succumbed to after a long lonely struggle with cancer. 

Dr Goh (third from left) congratulates Ryan

while Avinaash, Michael (second from right),

Dr Coffman and Tan look on

Avinaash Subramaniam is every Indian mother’s dream son except that he does not speak any Indian languages! (Bad words do not count). He excelled academically (13As in 2008 SPM) and had represented his school at national level inter-school debate and international level Science competition among others. He failed to secure a PSD scholarship, so he did his A-level studies in a private college and sat for SAT examinations at his own accord. He performed extremely well in both these his examinations and called to join Harvard (all expenses paid, thanks to US). And there goes another Malaysian heading to the beeline to green pastures, contributing to an additional number to the list of Malaysia losing its citizens to brain drain. Another one bites the dust… Incidentally his sister, three years previously, had earned a scholarship from Bank Negara (she scored 14A’s and was one of the top students in the country) to read Economics in MIT! Malaysia’s loss is US’s gain. Most probably Malaysia has loss its two bright children forever. The final product of an individual is sum product of nature and nurture. In Avinaash’s case he is endowed with good genetic contributions of a Brahmin University Professor in Anatomy, a Ph. D. mother and a famous Deputy Public Prosecutor of the 70s in Malaysia. Nurturing had obviously been beyond compare considering the correct exposure, environment and vibes they drew in the thick of things in Petaling Jaya. Ironic*** that our country failed miserably to identify him as Harvard material! Probably they were more interested in grooming Adi Putras (child prodigy who is now doing direct sales) and Nor Amalina (who obtained 15A’s and failed her English entrance examinations in Cambridge).

Mr Choong Choon Nam (Sasi’s father in law) passed away peacefully after 3 over years' battle with cancer. His last three years had taken a lot of toll on himself and his family, especially his wife. Ever since he was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the gall bladder and given less than 6 months to live, he chose to shut himself off from everybody due to depression. He stayed with his wife in a condominium refusing to meet many of his relatives or go anywhere (even church) till his dying days when he was admitted for internal bleeding. The irony of the diagnosis is that he was given less than 6 months to live in mid 2007. Mr Choong was so disappointed that he would be missing his 2008 China Olympics. Not only he savoured watching his China Olympics, he lived just 2 days short of his 79th birthday 3 years later!
Every dead man has a tale to tell. At the “wake” prayers before the cremation, I learnt about his life and times till adulthood. He grew up in KL, was bought a ticket to Perth. He managed to enroll himself into an Australian school and went all the way to study Engineering in University of Western Australia! Having a degree in Engineering was a formidable achievement in the 60s and was given a post to work in the Penang Ports. He met his future wife (Annie, a Kirby trained teacher) and started working to develop Port Klang as the leading port in Malaysia and the rest as they say is history. His 3 children all did their tertiary educations in Australia keeping up with the family tradition. Equipped with this asset, his 2 sons decide to relocate to Hong Kong and Australia respectively – again brain drain. His 4 grandchildren would also probably land up in a university in Ozland to keep up with the family tradition. 
In these two instances, the common denominator seems to be the story of immigrants coming to Malaya, working hard building and improving its economy, upgrading themselves economically and intellectually; but their offspring heading away from this country to greener pastures and continue to do what their parents did a generation before in their newly found motherland. What we see now is another wave of immigrants to fill this vacuum and the cycle will continue. Malaysia appears to be a favourite stopping point for immigrants and refugees, from Indians to Chinese to Vietnamese to Indonesians to Rohinyas to the so called students from Nigeria. When is Malaysia going to prosper and be a force to be reckoned with if it continually run by immigrants who have one leg in Malaysia and the other in the parent country?

*Another one bites the dust – Queen (1980)
80s hit by the great band Queen, led by Fred Mercury (a.k.a. Farrokh Bulsara). Did you know that he is of Parsi origin (of Zoroastrian belief), born in Zanzibar grew in Mumbai and then settled in the UK at the age of 17? And during the administration of chest compressions during CPR, to maintain the recommended rate of 100 compressions per minute, it is advised to think or hum this song as the bass line of this song is at such a rate! What a morbid song to hum when you are trying to save somebody!
**The green green grass of home – Tom Jones (1956)
***Ironic – Alanis Marisette (1996)
One of the lines in the song says, “isn’t it ironic that it rains on your wedding day?” Of course it may be suitable for southern California but not in Malaysia as it rains almost everyday here. It is a good omen if it rains on your wedding day. On my big day, however, it not only rained but it poured cats, dogs, elephants and everything in between. The musicians and well wishers were all stuck in traffic and the bride was almost whisked to the wrong wedding hall. Miraculously everything cleared soon and the ceremony went on to finish on time. All's well ends well. But it is ironic that one hand we are talking about brain drain but on the other hand we let our sons and daughters born and bred here just keeps slip sliding away… That’s another song by Simon & Garfunkel. The bottom line is we are not part of the country's social engineering. I get the feeling that I am a rash that does not want to go away!