Foreign workers.
Malaysia hosts hundreds of
thousands of foreign workers. Immigrants from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Burma, and the Philippines have left their home countries and traveled here, in
search of a better life – working in industries such as food and beverage,
construction, and plantation.
While many Malaysians have
expressed unfavorable views towards them, I believe Malaysia has benefited
quite a lot from the immigrants’ presence. Take a stroll down Kuala Lumpur and
it’s impossible for you to miss out on anything built by immigrant workers. Our
skyscrapers, our roads, and our pedestrian bridges, are erected by their hands.
What we have with our fellow
immigrants is a symbiosis. They need us to have the life they never could back
home, and we need them to build our country, literally. Also, immigrant workers
have helped in improving our lives. For example, a working mother’s hectic
schedule eases up with the assistance of her Philippine help. An office is kept
spotless clean by the Indonesian cleaning lady. Or a property is safely guarded
by the Nepalese security worker.
Likewise, the hardship of
foreigns workers should remind us of our forefathers who came to this land to
seek a better future. After all, this land has
welcomed and embraced many people from many parts of our region. Significant
number of the Malays came from Sumatera, Java, Moluccas, etc, the Chinese,
Indian, and Arabs have come and assimilated into the culture of our land.
Their
presence is an integral part of our society. We live side by side and play our
individual roles in molding a better Malaysia.
And I say, this is one of the
nice things we Malaysians have.
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