When I was in Form 6, one of my former classmates got married to a fishmonger because she was 5 months pregnant. When the other schoolmates learnt about her marriage, many of them could not believe their ears. Among some of the things they said were, "she is such a beautiful girl, why marry a stinking and poor fishmonger? She is only 19. She should come out to work and see the world, who knows, she may find someone better." One my best friends said, "If I were to get married, my husband must be someone who dresses well and works in the office. It's embarrassing to have your friends going to your fish stall and asking you to weigh a kilo of fish for them." Guess what my mom said when I asked her for 'angpow money' for the wedding dinner telling her about my former classmate's situation? Being a very conservative mom, she said, "If you don't study hard, get pregnant and marry a fishmonger like her, I would rather kill you."
I am not trying to say that it's okay to get pregnant and marry young. What I am trying to emphasize here is that fishmongers are not as poor as many of us may think. Although my former classmate's husband is a fishmonger, he can afford to buy one house after another for her throughout the years. When her neighbor told me about it, I thought she was joking and I did not really believe what she said. I only hoped that my former classmate would be happy with her new life and her husband would treat her well. A few years later, I visited my cousin brother and it was then that I began to believe what my former classmate's neighbor said. My cousin brother was only 21 and he had already bought a bungalow and a Mercedes Benz. He does not need good results and he does not have to go to the university. Even university graduates do not earn as much as he does. And what does he do for a living? He is a fishmonger and also a fish wholesale distributor.
Many of us may think that working in the wet market is a very shameful thing. Recently, university graduates who are working at the Selayang wholesale market have been jeered by their friends. When I told a jobless relative who has been living on handouts for years to work there, he said, "So cheap ah!" And instead of getting a job to support himself, he continues to beg from everyone! Do you know that there are many people who are lucky enough to live comfortably by collecting rent because their parents were wise enough to invest in properties at the time when houses were cheap and easily affordable? Why aren't they working? Because they cannot find their dream jobs. Because they are graduates and therefore cannot do lower-skilled jobs. Because they want to dress well and sit in the office. I've got a childhood friend who has never worked anywhere since she graduated in New Zealand because she cannot find the job that she wants. She is lucky because her parents can afford to support her. Time flies and there is the possibility that before these people could find their dream jobs, they would have reached retirement age already! As what Benjamin Franklin said, "Lost time is never found again." Robert T. Kiyosaki is right, "There is gold everywhere, most people are not trained to see it." So, they prefer to live their life in a meaningless way without doing anything at all. It is okay for those with parents who can afford to support them but what about those who come from poor families?
For a long time, the Rohingyas, Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Pakistanis, Syrians, Afghans, Yemenis, and Somalis have known that Malaysia is a land of opportunity and it may also be true to say that they are the ones who are trained to see gold everywhere in Malaysia. The Rohingyas, for instance, are willing to risk unsafe sea journeys to come to Malaysia even though they know that they are not welcomed here. There is no genocide in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, so why do they want to leave Cox's Bazar to come to Malaysia? There is no more genocide in Myanmar and the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, is ready to take back the Rohingya refugees. But why are the Rohingyas still so desperate to come to Malaysia that they don't mind waiting for months in Southern Thailand looking out for the opportunity to sneak into Malaysia waters and intentionally damage their boat beyond repair to force Malaysia to take them in? Why are they willing to pay RM15,000 - RM20,000 per head for the human traffickers to smuggle them into Malaysia? Because they know that Malaysia is a lucrative destination for them and they would have better career prospects in this country. The dream of a better life in Malaysia is so real that it inspires and motivates them to risk their lives to get to Malaysia. After two of their boats were turned away, they are now trying to sneak into the country through 'rat lanes' (illegal routes) and Malaysians are worried that they might bring the coronavirus with them. Using all sorts of tricks and ploys to get into Malaysia, the Rohingyas are pursuing their dreams courageously albeit in the wrong way. As what Walt Disney said, "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." Needless to say, many of those who came to Malaysia earlier have already achieved their dreams.
The success story of the president of MERHROM (Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia), Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani, is indeed an inspiration for the Rohingyas and they would love to emulate him. He left Buthidaung, a town in Rakhine State, Myanmar, at the age of 17 and came to Malaysia via Thailand in 1992. According to him, when he first arrived in Malaysia, he had no identification documents and the Malaysian Government helped him to get a UNHCR card. His 28 years in Malaysia has given him better career prospects and a brighter future. He came from nothing but today he has everything. He is now married to a Malaysian and has 3 children. As the owner of a grocery shop near Taman Cheras Utama, business is going very well for him and he is enjoying a comfortable life with his family. Needless to say, this 'from rags to riches' story is the dream of every Rohingya who paid the human traffickers to smuggle them into Malaysia. Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true (Leon Joseph Suenens).
Why did the Rohingyas ask the Malaysian Government to give them Selayang (a town in Gombak district, Selangor)? To the Rohingyas, the Selayang wholesale market is a dream come true as it can provide great opportunities for the them to improve their career prospects. According to Harian Metro, many of our local traders have sold their stalls to the Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who took over their businesses in the market. Although these traders have sold their stalls to the foreigners, they still renew their licences using their names every year to deceive the authorities. How much do each of these stalls cost? The price ranges from RM500,000 to RM1 million each. Where do the foreigners get so much money to buy their stalls? They are financially stable because each of them can earn RM300 - RM500 per day working in the market. Individually they may not be able to afford it but by pooling their resources together, they would have no problem starting a business and making big money. They don't mind paying the lump sum because they know that they can get back millions in one year. It is not difficult to make money in the market especially as wholesale distributors. Thus the foreigners can see gold in the market which our locals cannot see! Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them (Ann Lander). If the traders can make so much money in the wholesale market, what about other businesses?
Many of us would have heard of the success story of Md Billal Hossain Bhuiyan, a Bangladesh national who has become a successful businessman in Malaysia. He first came to Malaysia to study but did not complete his studies because he had no money to pay his tuition fees. He then worked as a delivery boy in the Pudu wet market and later owned his vegetable stall in the market. Through hard work, he was able to save enough money to open his first supermarket outlet. Today, Pasaraya Harian Bhuiyen has 20 outlets in the Klang Valley and Seremban. Md Billal Hossain Bhuiyan, a permanent resident of Malaysia now, also owns a poultry farm. He started with nothing and is now worth millions or perhaps billions of ringgit. This is the dream of every foreigner who made it to Malaysia. What about our Malaysians? Do they have such a dream too? The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams (Eleanor Roosevelt).
The rags-to-riches stories of the foreigners clearly show that one does not have to sit in the office to make big money in life. Since there is a glut of university graduates, paper qualification is worthless unless one is willing to work hard.
In a way, we should salute the foreigners for their resilience, hard work, and determination as it is not easy to build their empire from nothing in a foreign country. This is especially true for the Rohingyas who brave death at sea for a better life in Malaysia. It seems that Malaysia, being their favored destination, is their only hope. That was why, Mohammed Noor, a Rohingya in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, summed up the Rohingya condition as 'zero hope' when a Rohingya boat was prevented from docking in Malaysia on 16 April 2020. But why is Malaysia their only hope? I'll take that as a compliment because it means that there is hope for everyone in Malaysia. Let us pray that the whole world would work together to solve the Rohingya refugee problems so that they would find hope in other countries as well.
The foreigners who come to Malaysia for a better life would agree that it is the land of opportunity and hope. This clearly explains why businesses run by illegal immigrants are mushrooming. Some of them have been here for a long time and have dominated certain businesses. Others have married local women and are conducting their businesses through their wives. These foreigners don't mind marrying any grandmother who comes along as long as they can stay in Malaysia and start their business. Why? Because they know that there is gold everywhere in Malaysia. Are Malaysians aware of that? If the foreigners could become successful entrepreneurs in Malaysia, surely our own people would be able to do much better! And Malaysians certainly have better chances than foreigners should they wish to find a job or set up a business. The good news is - since the Movement Control Order (MCO), employers are not allowed to hire illegal foreign workers anymore and premises operated by foreigners illegally would be raided and ordered to shut down. With a slowing economy due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the government's first priority is to solve the problem of unemployment among Malaysians. Therefore, the priority to employment is given to the locals and not the illegal immigrants.
DBKL shut down and sealed an illegal mini-mart run by foreigners at Taman Sri Sinar Segambut, Kuala Lumpur (Source: DBKL Facebook).
Following tips from the public, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has raided and shut down many shops, restaurants, car washes, mini-marts, clothing stores, and roadside stalls operated by illegal foreigners. The shops were raided, closed down and sealed as a warning to those who run their business illegally. Now that illegal immigrants are not allowed to work and more and more illegal premises are ordered to shut down, let's hope that Malaysians who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak would take this opportunity to rebuild their lives and have satisfying careers in the future. The best way to predict the future is to create it (Abraham Lincoln). The future depends on what you do today (Mahatma Gandhi). Within every crisis lies a golden opportunity (Sonia Ricotti). A year from now you may wish you had started today (Karen Lamb).
You may also like to read Should the illegal entry of the Rohingyas into Malaysia be encouraged? To view the content page of this blog, please click here.
References:
1. RM500,000 hingga RM1 juta. Itu harga satu tapak niaga di Pasar Borong Kuala Lumpur
2. Presiden Rohingya MERHROM, Zafar Ahmad siap ada kedai runcit sendiri
3. A look at (famous for being infamous) Pudu through the eyes of its residents
4. Over 65 illegally run premises shut down in DBKL ops
5. Hundreds of Rohingya Refugees Stuck at Sea With ‘Zero Hope’
6. Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani - A Biography
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