The ship is sinking - a letter

Posted by: "raj kumar maharajah" drmaharajahrk@yahoo.com drmaharajahrk
Sun Feb 3, 2008 9:55 pm (PST)
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Pagalavan Letchumanan
To: barakathbadusha@ yahoo.com; dr.leehanwei@ gmail.com; kgdiv@yahoo. com.my; mrbasheerahamed@ gmail.com; tkalai170422@ yahoo.com; amish patel ; Dr G.C.George ; Guna ; Lew Hong Chau ; Nirven KUMAR ; noor azlina mohd salleh ; raj kumar maharajah ; WK Chan
Sent: Monday, February 4, 2008 1:40:52 PM
Subject: The ship is sinking - a letter

The ship is sinking
Posted by labisman
Monday, 04 February 2008

I am leaving. I am taking my family to a better place. Mixed reactions I have received from everyone around me have compelled me to write this.
This is not for those who understand my predicament. This is not for those who want to do what I am about to do but just cannot bring themselves to do it for various reasons.
This is, however, meant to enlighten those who are around me that has thrown words such as "coward", "easy way out", "unpatriotic" , "thrown in the towel" and most hurtful - "selfish".
I am in my mid 30s, and recently, I have become a father of 1. She is about a year and a half now. And to me, she is the most beautiful gift that anyone could have ever given me. I married a Malay-Muslim. I am a convert to Islam. Yes, at first it was for marriage, and later on, I have grown close to Islam, and I practice it with utmost sincerity.

I am leaving for my daughter. It is not a selfish thing to do. Canada will be a struggle for my wife and I. It will be a struggle for 2 people in their 30s to adapt, to leave so much behind, to start fresh. It is for my daughter. To me, that is unselfish.
You see, I have been a voter since I was eligible to vote. I have voted in every single election since I was eligible to vote. My vote always went to the opposition. And every single time I get beaten down and thumped by the results. I am no sore loser, but I wouldn't mind if I lost fairly and on a level playing field.

I have always encouraged my family, relatives, and friends to register as a voter if they have not already done it. And I do all I can to talk to family, relatives, and friends, since 15 years ago as to why we need a stronger opposition and recently, my tone changed to 'why we need a change of government'. From this, I am convinced that I have managed to swing many votes in the opposition's favor by people around me. I go to rallies, seminars, talks. I walked with the people, subjected myself to acid laced water, sounds to batons knocking on shields, risk arrest, and high handed police tactics. Yet every single time, I come out the loser. A loser who lost an unfair battle. A loser who cannot do much to change things even by doing everything he could, and everything within his power to change things. A loser who will keep losing unfairly.
I am leaving because I have run out of moves. I have run out of maneuvers. I have run out of steam. I have been thumped to the ground too many times over the years. People like me have been called names, insulted and ridiculed by people who run this country. The people I damn. The people that have sucked this country dry. The people who have clipped my wings for over 30 years. The people who convinced me that my daughter will not have a good quality of life in this potentially beautiful country.

My 1 and a half year old daughter goes to daycare. The teachers there gave me a hard time as to why my daughter has a Muslim name and also an Indian middle name. They say it should not be so. My neighbor sends his son to the same nursery. A son with a Malay-non Islamic name. But that is OK. Malays seem to equate malays to equal muslims. I took her away from that nursery, and searched for a new one. I went from one place to another. One nursery forced 3 – 4 year olds to wear a tudung, to purposes of "menutup aurat".

My wife is an educator. She has seen an unhealthy kind of Islamisation is schools. Not an Islamisation guided by the Quran. But a Malay, BN government version of Islam. Where to be a good muslim is to support the government. And to be a good muslim is to be a good malay who protect malay rights. Who protects this country from falling into the hands of the other races.
I have tried to talk to people, tell them about how a Muaalaf feels when they behave as though Islam belongs to the malays. People get angry, it is their God given right. They appear as though they are the Guardians of Islam in Malaysia. I reason with people, try to open hearts and minds. They get angry. Our government has set this mentality after 50 years. Our government has set this mentality for personal interests. Our government has ruled and shaped peoples mind to be one tracked, and benefiting to those in power. They have clipped their wings, crippled our minds, and created brain drains. There is no room for question, no room for analysis, no room for creativity, no room for change.

They have taken away what would potentially be a good quality of life for my daughter.
I walked with the people, subjected myself to acid laced water, sounds to batons knocking on shields, risk arrest, and high handed police tactics.

I do all I can to change things and people around me. Yet every single time, I come out the loser. A loser who lost an unfair battle. A loser who cannot do much to change things even by doing every he could, and everything within his power to change things. A loser who will keep losing unfairly.

Friends, I am not leaving because I am a "coward", or I am finding an "easy way out", or because I am "unpatriotic" , or have "thrown in the towel" and definitely not "selfish".
I am leaving because I have run out of moves. I have run out of maneuvers. I have run out of steam.
I am doing this for my daughter, for her future. She will adapt to her new home, My wife and I will suffer.

Staying here will be selfish. It will be selfish for me to not allow my daughter to have the best in life. It will be selfish for me to not provide for her the best that I can. It will be selfish for me to not provide her the best from everything within my power.

Yes, I am leaving. I have tried to plug the holes, but the holes are too many. All I see are people just looking on as the holes become more and more. I see holes being created by our government. I try to plug them, I try to get people around me to help plug them. The holes are too many.
The holes are making the ship sink.
The ship is sinking, and I'm taking my family to jump ship.

By Firdaus Siva