Sim Kwang Yang's piece on Eternal migrants provides a very balanced and wise view of modern migration, and in particular the migration of mainly Chinese and Indian Malaysians from their land of birth.

He asked whether those of us who have migrated have '... surrendered our rights of Malaysian citizenship, including that of levying damning criticism against political practices in the land of their birth?'.

That may be, but thanks to malaysiakini, many voices that hitherto have been silent, now have the opportunity to voice their views, even if they have been scathing about matters Malaysian.

Like many issues raised in this forum, the airing and debate of them can't but be good for the sake of free expression, and for democracy. The custodians of the country (i.e. Umno leaders - not the other feeble members of the Barisan Nasional) need to appreciate the reasons why hundreds and thousands of clever and skilled Malaysians have left the country.

And why this is in fact symptomatic of the lack of progress in the country. And why the per capita income in Malaysia is a fraction of that of Singapore's and/or Australia's. It's an indictment against all the failed 'protectionist' policies of the last 35 years.

Malaysia's Umno leaders have a choice - continue as they are in running a protectionist cum patronage economic system and boast that they are the 'best' among third world economies, or be courageous enough to allow some real meritocracy in the system.

Thanks to globalisation, many disaffected Malaysians also have a choice. We don't have to put up with any nonsense, whether in Malaysia, or in the countries that we are living. Within the limits of the 'human condition', for my money, we find elsewhere the kind of democracy that many of us didn't find in Malaysia.

Migration nearly always add to the sum total of human happiness. Otherwise, human beings simply would not do it.