If you are rich, it does not matter who and where you are. Your wealth will bring you freedom of movement and freedom of doing something good for humankind. And please don't get me wrong. I'm not rich but I've enough to survive comfortably till I'm six feet under. I was not educated overseas. My family was not rich enough to send me to overseas. I still remember that I got very sicked of sending my friends to airport when I was a teen. Neither I belong to the class of creme de la creme and not smart enough to be given an overseas scholarship. I was not given even a local scholarship, I need to borrow to complete my studies. In other words, I'm the stupid one that left behind in Malaysia.
I came to Malaysia not by choice. It was my parents choice. But, after growing up, I do have a choice: to stay in Malaysia or to follow my grandparents' footstep to search for much greener pasture. The trouble was I could not define what is greener pasture. Is greener pasture define as avoiding harm like May 13, 1969? Or similar case of Indonesian Chinese being persecuted in 1998? Or to be a millionaire? Or to be a saint, providing care to the needy? Or to satisfy my ego that I belong to the developed world?
Is the repeat of May 13 a fat tail event? To me, it's just another political risk. I will equate that risk similar of the repeat of 9/11.
Unless I want to be a Prime Minister or a top government servant, the rest is pretty much up to me. In life, I prefer to be lucky than smart. I can adopt Napoleon's philosophy easily, he prefers lucky general than brilliant generals. I also believe the harder and more miserable they(yes our fucking government) make our lives, the harder we'll fight back. Every adversity is an equal or greater opportunity.
We have Malaysian non-bumi billionaires like Robert Kuok, Ananda Krishnan, Lee Shin Cheng, Teh Hong Piow, Lim Kok Thay, Quek Leng Chan, Lee Kim Hua and Vincent Tan.
We also have Filipinos Chinese billionaires like Henry Sy, Lucio Tan, Andrew Tan, John Gokongwei, Tony Tan and George Ty.
We also have Indonesian Chinese billionaires like Micheal Hartono, Robert Budi Hartono, Peter Sandakh, Low Tuck Kwong, etc......
Why these entrepreneurs succeeded, despite of fuck up environment they are in? It's seems like a very low correlation between individual net worth and corrupt government. These are old fashion folks will rise up early in the morning while young folks are still on their beds trying to recover from hangover. They took the risk and with a little bit of luck on their side, they made it. They also hire a lot of people much smarter than themselves.
Idealism sometimes does not work in the business world or wealth building.
I still have not answered why I'm a Malaysian, in Malaysia. I was lucky that I started my career with a multi-national company that has a branch in Malaysia. In other words, the competitions were not that keen because smart people were not interested in my job. With disciplined approach, I compounded my saving at a reasonable rate. With a little bit of luck, I've achieved my financial goals and freedom.
I'm comfortable with the political risk that I'm taking, for now. As I grow older, I embrace the concept of global citizenship. I don't have to spend all my time in Malaysia. I can be in China, Japan, America, Britain, Spain, Australia, Timbuktu, India, Nepal, Brazil, Argentina, etc....... In short the world is my country. If I really care without pretending like pharisees, I should spend my time, money and energy to reduce international imbalances. It's the poor and unfortunate that I need to serve not the strong and powerful. It's the corrupt one that I need to fight.
In every 5 years or so, since I'm not happy with the ruling government, I can fuck them by voting against them. If each and everyone of us are doing the same, there is where we will make our voices heard. And that voice is getting louder. BN, ignore at your own peril.
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2 comments:
We thrive and prosper in spite of the government. It's just that we are so visible that we are too easily picked on as scapegoats by the bad guys whenever things turn sour. But through all the trials and tribulations, we survived and we prospered and we emerged stronger. That's what life should be all about, it's not about having a lazy complacent existence collecting handouts from the government. We work much, we gain much. Work little, gain little. And that's fair. Malaysia, for better or worse, is our home. It will always be my home, at least.
UMNO Boleh ! Malayu Boleh ! Bumiputra Boleh ! And they continue shouting like that. Do the current government really valued the contribution on non-Bumi? For sure they said 'Yes' but we are not stupid. But it's not our option to be born in this fucking country.
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