If you don't accept/like it, you can leave this country!

OPINION: According to a news report several days ago, the most disheartening words for parents are: "Okay! Okay! I've got it already! Stop nagging at me, please!"

Also as depressing: "Stop asking me again! You won't get it even if I tell you why!" and "I know what I want to eat. Stop taking for me!"

These are the latest picks by Mainland Chinese, but the same are equalling depressing falling on the ears of Malaysian parents.

There are such demoralising words in our very own society, and they will spring up every now and then, probably not targeted at the parents, but more at the general public, inflicting direct or indirect agonies to the hearers.

Among the many that speak a lot to me of late is this: If you don't accept/like it, you can leave this country!"

As a matter of fact, no one has said that in my face, but each time this thing flashes across my mind, I can't help but feel utterly uneasy, as if I am one of the many collective victims of the brash remarks.

For instance, Member of Parliament Bung Mokhtar Radin told AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman Rani: "You can leave Malaysia and go anywhere you like" in response to the latter's criticisms on the Utusan front page headline "Apa lagi Cina mahu?"

In the eyes of Bung Mokhtar, Azran has been utterly ungrateful slamming Utusan and is therefore ineligible to live here.

So, anyone not conforming to "Bung Mokhtar style Malaysia" should not stay in this country.

Merely two days ago, Utusan's Awang Selamat hit out at Tony Pua, telling him to migrate to Hong Kong or Taiwan if he was unhappy with the Ramadan bazaar, in apparent reference to the Jonker Walk controversies.

It doesn't matter whether Pua is happy or not happy with the Ramadan bazaar, as it is a different matter altogether, but "migrate to Hong Kong or Taiwan" has been borne out of the same type of mentality.

A Cabinet minister said recently: "If you don't like the existing system, you can leave this country."

Based on the same reasoning, anyone disagreeing with Utusan, Bung Mokhtar or any political leader should leave the country.

If this is the case, there won't be many that are left behind.

Sure enough these people have no right to tell anyone to leave Malaysia, and no one will leave just because of what these people have said.

But the point is: None of these people can speak for Malaysia. Not Bung Mokhtar, nor Utusan or any of our ministers. Similarly, Azran, Tony Pua or <>Sin Chew Daily all cannot speak for the country either.

No individuals, organisations or media can do so. Malaysia is a collective entity made up of many different individuals, organisations and schools of thoughts.

Only those living within the confines of a unitary mentality will have this kind of fantasy or illusion that they should rule supreme and all other individuals or organisations must submit themselves under their authority or be expelled from this country.

While I don't like the way Bung Mokhtar and Awang Selamat say things, I would never have the wishful thinking of telling them to leave Malaysia. All that I would do is to offer my views to manifest my disagreement with them.

Our country is not a factory churning out some product called rakyat. This country will only prosper if different thinkings and values are allowed to co-exist in harmony.

You can choose to disagree with them, but no one has the right to tell you to leave unless you want to, as this country is yours!

By TAY TIAN YAN
Translated by DOMINIC LOH
Sin Chew Daily