COMMENT Both Australia and Singapore are beneficiaries to quality migration. 
 
Back in the 1980s, the Australian currency was about RM1.80 to an Aussie Dollar. In 1963, when Singapore left Malaya, its currency was equivalent to the Ringgit. 
 
Over three to five decades, these two countries have become the beneficiaries of quality migration, mostly from this part of the world. 
 
In Australia back then, the pace of life was 'slow and easy.' Although Malaysian students were also targeted by the 'Asians Out' (AO) campaign, many of us used to laugh at the Aussies, calling them cute names like 'Koalas' because, like the marsupials, the White Aussies were 'sedatively easy going, no sweat blokes’ who preferred to leave work sharp at five, and on Friday evenings, booze rather than go home. 
 
They, too, had their equivalents of Ibrahim Alis, Zulkifli Noordins and Abdullah Zaiks. In those days, Pauline Hanson was an outspoken lawmaker who campaigned against Australia's open door policy. Harping on the superiority of the Whites, except that she never became the prime minister of Australia, she too was heaping all sorts of racial slurs against the Asian immigrants. 
 
Good old George 
 
In the 80s, I still remember it was the Greeks and the Vietnamese immigrants who were the hardworking lots. 
 
The Greeks had arrived a few decades earlier, while the Vietnamese were still called, 'Boat People' by some of the Aussies. Because of their willingness to work hard, the miserly Greeks were able to afford bigger homes. The Vietnamese community was also showing signs of prosperity. 
 
I used to work with one Greek migrant, by the name of George, at a factory manufacturing electrical appliances. His lunch was simple, which his wife had prepared for him from home. 
 
During the summer vacation, I would go back to the same factory to work in good old George's department as a press machine operator to produce parts for the appliances. He, and his immediate superior, liked me because I was his very prolific worker, always challenging myself to break my own record. If I could produce 2,000 pieces today, I try to go for 2,500 the next day. 
 
Unlike most other White Australians, George was prepared to work overtime. Sometimes, the whole factory would be dark by the time we left the production floor. George was only a section supervisor, but one day, when he gave me a lift home, to my surprise, it was a nice bungalow house. 
 
Of course, houses in Australia were cheaper by comparison in the 80s, but a supervisor like him was able to save enough money to buy a big home, compared to the average Aussie bloke. 
 
I recall there was a lot of jealousy and resentment against the Greeks as well amongst the Whites. They were the 'richer' ones but the locals resented their miserly nature. 
 
However, looking back, I have reasons to believe that it was people like George, who have become the backbone of Australia's economy today. 
 
Migrants generally do better 
 
Over the next three decades, Australia has also become the beneficiaries of quality migration from Hong Kong and Malaysia. Many of the migrants from Hong Kong were businessmen who wanted to leave their island state before the return of Hong Kong to the Chinese government. 
 
I also knew one Dr Donald Chan, a renowned cardiologist, who was originally from Hong Kong. He had first migrated to Malaysia, but subsequently decided to move to Melbourne. I first met Dr Chan through his son, Andrew, who was still in medical school. 
 
They were living with Andrew's grandparents in what I thought was “a small flat”, which was cosy enough for the entire family. Andrew's grandfather was also a doctor. They were a humble family but I remember riding for the first and the only time in my life in a Rolls Royce, when Dr Donald Chan fetched me home after a good meal at their home. 
 
The Chan family were one of the pioneers. Other migrants from Hong Kong who subsequently emigrated to Australia were mainly concentrated in bigger cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. As a result, these cities have become metropolitans and more alive, with thriving businesses in their Chinatowns. 
 
When I was a student, most shops were closed by 5pm, but it is hardly so these days. The two or three Chinese restaurants were the ones that we had frequented as students, but now, students are spoilt for choices. This was what I discovered when I returned to Melbourne for a visit 10 years ago. There were many big restaurants operated by these businessmen from Hong Kong. 
 
As a Malaysian, I could no longer boast that we have the best Dim Sum in Malaysia, because my relatives would tell me that they, too, have good restaurants operated by their fellow citizens from Hong Kong. Even my White Aussie colleagues told me that they enjoy their local Dim Sums. 
 
I did not have the opportunity to visit suburban areas such as Springvale, which used to be known as the "Boat People's township." 
 
I have every reason to believe that a number of the Vietnamese children whom I knew in those days would have turned into successful citizens in their adoptive nation. Given the opportunity and knowing how to appreciate it, they would have worked themselves to the top after graduating from the local universities.
 
It will not surprise me if some of them, with their mother tongue, could have returned to their parents’ homeland as regional marketing managers or perhaps, even worked as expatriates! 
 
In Melbourne and Sydney, there is also a big population of people of all three major races - Indians, Malays and Chinese – who have emigrated from Malaysia. Most of these emigrants from Malaysia are highly qualified professionals. 
 
Closer to home 
 
Across the causeway, closer to home, we see the same phenomenon. I believe a big number of the workforce in Singapore today are from Malaysia, who are now either citizens or permanent residents. 
 
The Singaporean economy was well-managed by its statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, whom I sometimes deride for his derogatory comments about Malaysia. However, the fact that Singapore had no resources whatsoever when it left Malaya in 1963 and today, it is an economic powerhouse in this region, is something that no one had predicted. 
 
In those days, Malaysians used to travel to Singapore to buy their merchandise because of the free port status; however, the trend is now reversed. Because of the strength of its currency, Singaporeans can afford to go on a shopping spree whenever they travel to Malaysia. After all, what is RM100 to them? 
 
A journalist friend of mine, who is currently based there as a Bernama correspondent, is having such a good time that it is unlikely that she would give up the post if she has the opportunity to work until past retirement. 
 
Another friend of mine who left Malaysia during the economic recession in the 80s has contributed a good 30 years of his productive life for Singapore. Today, as a civil engineer, he is on a special project under the Ministry of Education to refurbish the older school buildings. 
 
At least eight of my cousins are now either citizens or permanent residents of the island state. One is a retired senior police officer, another is an engineering professor with the local university and their sister is a senior nursing staff. 
 
Another cousin, who studied engineering in Australia around the same time I was there, is now the vice-president of a bank in Singapore, while his sister is also holding some senior position in the private sector. 
 
Another three cousins from one retired teacher's family are also doing very well. One of them, in his early 30s, is working as an actuary, earning tonnes of money that (I jokingly suggest) could easily afford her a Ferrari. The three siblings return to Malaysia only a couple of times a year to visit their parents and to check out their favourite local food stalls. 
 
Our immigrants 
 
Fast forward to 2014, we, too, have people entering into our country, either legally or illegally, from countries afar - Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Myanmar. Although unskilled, these people will be able to catch up financially because they are willing to work hard and long hours. 
 
While the country needs these people as the backbone of the industry, their economic success will sometimes shame even our local youths, who are unwilling to work in restaurants, palm oil estates or in the construction industry. 
 
Whenever I travel by LRT or the KTM Commuter trains, I notice that nearly five of every ten passengers are foreigners. Some of us may resent their presence, but they too have contributed to our economic growth.  
 
If our young generation of Malaysians do not want to be left out economically like the good old Aussie blokes in the 80s, they should start turning on a new leaf and be prepared to slog like many of us did in the 80s through the 90s. We have seen the hard times, but some of our younger generation of Malaysians expect dinner to be served on the table without having to work for it. 
 
Or else, who is to blame if Malaysia is left behind the regional economic growth? While Australia and Singapore are becoming “high-tech, high-income” nations, from the number of professionals and tycoons that they have been able to attract, we have no one to blame ourselves if our younger generation of Malaysians fail to compete with the foreign workforce. 
 
The pool of talents that we used to have in the country have moved down South, as a result of a former prime minister’s scathing remarks, “Migrate, if you cannot agree with the country’s policies.” The gap is now replaced by unskilled or semi-skilled labourers from the region. 
 
There is a saying that still rings true: Nothing comes free. God is fair. 
 
To those who sow, they shall reap abundantly. Those who choose to depend on doles, they end up becoming economically unproductive. 
 


STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.