World Malaysia Sarawak Miri

Break From the Law

Musings from Miri, Sarawak Aug 19, 2009

“Welcome to Sarawak!” read the sign shortly after we passed through the immigration controls in Sarawak after disembarking from our AirAsia flight from KK. Because there are no direct flights between Tawau and Miri, today we flew first to KK and from there caught a connecting flight to Miri.

Sarawak may be a state within Malaysia, but entering Sarawak from Sabah at Miri’s sleek modern international airport seemed indistinguishable from entering an entirely different country. Upon landing at the airport, each passenger must pass through immigration controls, at which time an immigration officer examines the passport and stamps it. We had experienced a similar phenomenon in Sikkim, the formerly independent kingdom which acceded to India in 1975 but retained some vestiges of national sovereignty, including the right to control its own borders. As someone explained to me already, when Sabah and Sarawak acceded to Malaysia at the time of its creation, each retained certain sovereign rights, including with respect to immigration controls.

I am writing this entry tonight from the Coffee Bean cafe - the WiFi at the Starbucks immediately next door to here is not working - at the modern mall here in Miri. Miri appears to be a fairly prosperous city, with good roads, modern buildings and the other trappings of a developed region. The mall we are at could be anywhere in the developed world, and other than a few souvenir shops in it selling local kitsch, it is completely devoid of any local character or charm. From the look of things here, it appears revenues from timber and oil and gas extraction off of the nearby coast have trickled down nicely to the regional government as well as the local populace here.

Here in Miri, i’ve also been struck today by the strong Chinese influence, which seems pervasive. Unlike many of the places we visited in Sabah, in which ethnic Malays appeared to form the majority of the populace, here Malaysian Chinese appear to form a majority or near majority of the population. All of the street signs are written in both the Latin and Chinese alphabets, and many of the businesses have signs in Mandarin Chinese as well as in English and Malay.

Generally speaking, the thing about Malaysia which has most surprised me - along with how developed the country actually already is - has been the degree of Chinese influence across Malaysia. Malaysia really strikes me as having a Malay-Chinese hybrid culture generally, but here in Miri, the Chinese footprint appears even more pronounced.

To an outsider such as myself, it is hard to understand the Chinese-Malay dynamic here in Malaysia. On a superficial level, it appears that relations between the two ethnic groups are fairly harmonious. However, during our short time here in Malaysia, i’ve had a number of discussions with Malaysian Chinese on the subject of relations between Malays and Malaysian Chinese, and a similar comment has surfaced in EVERY one of these discussions: Malaysian Chinese essentially feel treated by their government as second class citizens. Nearly 4 decades ago, Malaysia instituted an affirmative action program to help the majority ethnic Malays, who were - and remain - economically far lower on the prosperity totem pole than their Malaysian Chinese countrymen. While the standard of living for many Malays has risen dramatically since then, these government programs seem to have struck a raw nerve generally with Malaysian Chinese.

In recent years, this discontent has manifested itself in a brain drain, with an exodus from Malaysia of Malaysian Chinese. Better opportunities overseas are proving an irresistible siren song for many Malaysian Chinese here, with Australia, New Zealand, the UK and even mainland China being favorite destinations. Many Malaysian Chinese also speak Mandarin Chinese, which allows them to cultivate ties with their historical roots in China much easier than would otherwise be the case and capitalize on the growing need worldwide for Mandarin Chinese speakers.

Of course, these musings are only impressions based on random discussions, and as such, should only be taken with a pinch of salt. Furthermore, as my experience has been that Malaysian Chinese have a far greater grasp of the English language than Malays, I haven’t had much of an - or realistically, virtually any - opportunity to discuss the issue with Malays. Still, I can't help but wonder how Malaysia will fare if the brain drain of the Malaysian Chinese - who by most accounts have been the primary engine behind Malaysia’s rapid development - continues unabated…