I come back to serve my country

In conjunction with the upcoming Independence Day of Malaysia, it only makes sense to write something patriotic. So let me share something I did which I am still proud of until present day. It is not about the sportive competitions in which I was the sole Malaysian representative. It is about a decision.

After I finished my study, I had a choice: to return home or to stay in France to search for a job. By right there shouldn't even be a choice at all. As JPA scholars, we were bounded by contract and required to return and work in Malaysia. But this was not clear as there were many who stayed. Apparently there were ways to "bypass" the contract if we really wanted to stay. Probably there were legitimate ways to stay and work in France. Don't ask me how because I didn't even go the distance to explore. I chose to come back to serve my bond.

In fact, staying in France would have been easier. I had been living there since I was out of secondary school. I had a job offer following my internship in CEA Grenoble. I had close friends and connections built up from school and work. Malaysia was more foreign to me during the time I had to make the decision, if you want to know the truth. Leaving France meant pushing me out of my comfort zone, totally uprooting my life. But still I chose to come back.

Reason? First responsibility, and second, I want to be part of the change. In 2008, I left to France while DAP took over the governance of Penang state. Rarely but every time I came back to Penang for vacation, the positive changes were hard to ignore. This have gave me hope, that the same could be done on the scale of the whole country, that Malaysia could be changed for better. I have to admit that Malaysia still has many problems. Rather than complaining about it, so I chose to come back to be the change, however minuscule it is.

That's why I am proud to have voted during the GE14 and witness the history first hand. That's why I am proud to pay my road tax and my income tax. Not to say that I am happy to pay tax but I am proud that I am fulfilling my civil responsibility and the tax money is going benefit the people of Malaysia. Conflicting but truthful, I am unhappily proud to pay for summons too.

Until today, I can still get people questioning my decision to return home and work here in Malaysia. "Why don't you stay there?" or "Where did you come back?" I always have the same answer: I come back to serve my country.