If You Want To Go, Just Go

Okay, I've got a bit of a rant.

I had dinner with a friend, who had company at the dinner table by the time I joined then. Kesimpulannya, I crashed lah. But that's not the story.

Now, this friend of his had been living overseas quite a while now. The story I got was that he got his degree and just stayed on. Now, here's what I think - if you choose to stay on, you choose to leave whatever you have behind. Correct? I mean, sure, home is where the heart is and all that jazz but really, your family might be here etc but if you leave, it's usually because you see something better elsewhere, be it love, career, lifestyle.

So, what gives you the damn right to come back here and complain about how things are here?

Okay, so I know that KL has a crap transport system, and the our drivers are vicious. But really, if this was what you choose to leave behind, then why come back and complain about it? Okay fine, so you're allowed to complain maybe. But to compare it to how things are where you are? Then GO BACK THERE AND DON'T COME BACK if it's so horrible here.

I mean, I'm not saying that I don't complain. Sure, I wish we had better roads, better politicians, more equality etc etc etc. But the difference is that I still choose to live in this country because I love it for what it is, corruption and 34-million Ringgit cops to go with it. Sure, I don't condone it but hey, if KL was to turn as sterile as Singapore with no chewing gum (I hear they've removed the ban), mamak stalls, burger Ramlee and CCTV cameras in the toilets, I don't think I'd like living here anymore.

Not only that, I didn't decide to run away. And leave all this behind. Because I could if I wanted to. But hey, I'm also a realist. I realise that we are still developing as a country, that as an Asian country, the majority will naturally be more liberal. And I believe that Rome wasn't built in a day (i.e. 2020 isn't going to come in 2006 - I have my doubts about 2020 itself but that's a different story).

Now, what really irks me also is the fact that people who go overseas and study and come back and complain. Look, you knew what KL was like before you left, you could choose to leave or stay there. How can you go to a first world country, and a country that is so much older than ours and compare it? It just doesn't make sense.

And what's all this about people asking me why I never stayed in Australia when I finished studying. Why must I? Do you ever ask those that DO decide to stay back WHY they decided not to come back? No. Why?

Look, there's no way we're going to progress even a little bit with this sort of mentality. Sure, there is a long way to go but hey, do something about it instead of just complaining. Or running away.