Terima Kasih Malaysia - shame on you Singapore

So much has been said on the issue of the Rohingya refugees over the last week - the latest news that has emerged today is that Malaysia has agreed to take in the refugees and they have been taken to Johor. It's a busy day for me here - my last full day in London before I go up to Scotland, so it's going to be a short article. I have to make a few simple points on the issue for today.

Thank you Malaysia

1. The nationalities of the refugee is totally irrelevant: whether they are Burmese/Myanmar nationals, Bangladeshi or stateless - they are human beings and deserve our compassion. Showing them mercy and compassion is not dependent on their nationality, but our basic humanity.

2. For the idiots who keep saying, "Malaysia is a Muslim country of course they should have taken the refugees in the first place", what the hell are you talking about? Check out the statistics, Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country yes but only 61.8% of Malaysians are Muslim. Then there are 19.8% who are Buddhists, 9.2% Christians, 6.3 Hindus, along with many other minority religions like Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, atheism etc. In fact, being our neighbour, Malaysia's demographics do resemble Singapore's in that we have the same mix of religions - just in different proportions.

Malaysia is similar to Singapore in many ways. 

To try to argue that Malaysia should and must bear the burden of the Rohingyas because 61.8% of Malaysians are Muslims is ignoring the fact that Singapore is far richer than Malaysia and are in a much better position to support these 40 refugees. The GNP per capita (PPP) of Malaysia is $15,190 whilst the same figure for Singapore is $59,790. If we were talking about a huge number of refugees, like 400,000 refugees, then yeah you can drag space into the argument: Malaysia is a huge country whilst Singapore is much smaller in comparison to our bigger neighbour to the north. But we're just talking about 40 refugees - so that argument is totally invalid when the PAP has officially announced that we need 6.5 million people in Singapore - that's a shortfall of 1.3 million, didn't you get the memo?

3. I can't speak on behalf of anyone but myself - I am an atheist, I reject any concept of religion or god(s), but I believe strongly that Singapore stance is highly immoral and wrong. I don't need any religion to tell me what Singapore did was very wrong. Most of all, as my friend Bahar said, I don't believe in this kind of compassion Apartheid, where the responsibility of helping Muslims is placed squarely on the shoulders of other Muslim-majority countries. That's such bullshit. The responsibility of helping a fellow human being should be shared by everybody.

Black, white, Asian, Muslim. Buddhist or Christian but all humans.

Malaysia has shown that they are a far more compassionate and humane country and that a country's worth should not be measured solely in economic output or GNP per capita - rather, there are qualities like compassion, humanity and mercy which cannot be easily quantified but are vital in making a country a pleasant place to be.

This quality of humanity is not easily measured as it's not something that is called upon everyday - rather, it is something that can be called upon when the need arises. Imagine this: we're both in a room and it's quiet, there's no one else, just us. And I tell you, there is music in the room. You say, "I can't hear it." I then turn on the radio and tune into a radio station playing a beautiful piece of music. The music is something we can access, we just have to turn the radio on in order for us to tap into that music coming from the radio station. That is the case in Malaysia - the compassion is there, you just have to press the button, like tuning into the right radio station or turning the tap on and it flows. In Singapore, the compassion isn't there because the people of Singapore do not care if the government act in a compassionate manner or not. There is a radio blackout for compassion.

Can you find some humanity left in your hearts, Singaporeans?

It's easy for the Singapore government to express sympathy and compassion to the shooting in Sandy Hook because they can cry all those crocodile tears without having to actually do anything. But when 40 refugees come knocking at your door? It's a really terribly shameful reflection on not just the government but the people of Singapore. Have a look at Demoncratic's cartoon below which really sums up the entire sorry situation with the PAP.

4. Ask yourself this Singaporeans, you're officially living in a country which doesn't endorse compassion. What if you're at the receiving end of this kind of attitude one day in your own country? What if you run into some kind of financial difficulty and you have a family member in hospital, you've lost your job and you can't put food on the table or pay your children's school fees? What then? How would you feel if the rest of society (not the government but the society) turns around and says to you, "tough shit, you don't work hard enough to support your family, none of my business, why should I bother to help you? This is Singapore, we don't have compassion for anyone." I am not even talking about karma, I am talking about the very practical implications of living in a selfish society which condones turning your back on others in need. What kind of country are you living in?

As usual, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks, terima kasih.