Jarod Yong

I masked the faces of my accuser & my students from this image. A courtesy I wish my accuser extended to my students. Here we go again. People accuse me of all sorts of things on social media & often it occurs in closed Facebook groups I'm not part of, so I am unable to defend myself or clarify. Usually, I ignore them, but I have to respond to this one because the ridiculous accusation has also directly involved my students, who have generously agreed to be part of the banner picture on my blog.

What I want to do when people start telling me about how they want to leave Malaysia.   I've been hearing a lot of educated Malaysians talk about leaving the country after yesterday's political debacle. I do admit, I have similar thoughts, especially since I have a kid & naturally want a better future for him. But, what happens when the educated people leave? Who will be left behind? Who will clean up the mess? Who will check & balance the government? Who will develop the nation & carry it into the 21st century?

During the last CNY celebration, I encountered numerous situations where friends or family expressed the following frustration, "Nothing is open." Then, to my absolute horror, 100% of the time, they'd follow with, "Let's eat at <insert Western fast food restaurant>." Wait a minute. Chinese eateries are closed, but isn't this a perfect opportunity to expand one's palette and try other Malaysian cuisines? Overseas, we take pride in how multi-racial Malaysia is, but what's the point when we don't include other Malaysian cuisines into our lives? Why are Western fast food restaurants the default? Why not Dayak, Indian, or Malay? Probably offending people with my outward expression of disgust, I'd insist on one of my favorite Malaysian eateries in town. While introducing one of our local cuisines, I've heard confessions that people have never tried or rarely tried Malay/Indian/Dayak cuisine. Every single time, I'd see eyes ...