Malaysia Blog#7

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [Source: http://www.mandarinoriental.com]

                 In that world, money mattered the most.. Without money, I am nothing but their pawn in the chess game.. Money makes their world go around and people who have money desired to preserve the money they have by hiring gangsters, assassins and even police sometimes. Malaysia is the probably the most divided country in terms of money and prosperity. Chinese business owners are the worst; they control politics, social life, economy and foreign affairs, 50% of the country is made up of Chinese. From restaurants, factories to large corporations, Chinese mafia rule the economy without any rivals. The gangsters that most Chinese Bosses used were never hesitant, they kill when they have to and they torture when they have to, unlike little 'gangsters' in the U.S they don't have to shoot to kill people, they will use silence elimination methods which involve swords, bats, and brass knuckles and they will throw the body in the nearest rivers to make it seem like they drowned themselves. There are no C.S.I in Kuala Lumpur, they are not going to waste time on the body that is dead they will just bury it and give the victim's family their sorrow. They show no mercy, no emotions.. Once you become the target of a gang, you will never escape because you are a fly caught in a spider's net. I lived among them, unnoticed.. I survived among them because I kept quite.. I have seen what they do to people that they don't like. It was then, I learned what it takes to survive in the real world, it was then I learned the price I had to pay to live, which is my beliefs and morals. For me, living means not dying The gangsters back there only lived for today rather than they day after, their lives have been sold to money and power.Therefore they do not care about their lives as much as we do, if they win the fight they will live and that's great but if they don't they die. That world is ugly and cruel but is this world any different? we hide behind the walls of innocence and purity but are we really innocence or pure? I used to believe that I was living in the other world when I got here, because things were so different I don't have to kill or fight anyone for necessities. But then I realized that there are so many things to change in the world, because this is the only world we have.... there are no 'this' world and 'that' world there is only 'the' world...

Malaysia (Blog#6)

[Continued from Blog#5]

 
Map of Malaysia [Source: www.bugbog.com]


           They discriminated us, they made us pay, they made us suffer because of one thing.. We were not Muslims. For those of you out there who are Muslims, I apologize for generalizing but they are true facts in Malaysia where Islamic religion takes its roots..They are extremists, they are ruthless and unkind towards fellow humans. They treated us like animals... They didn't understand us, they think we went there because we wanted to but we didn't.. we went there because we 'had' to.. There was no other way to flee from persecution. If we wanted to live, we had to flee to Malaysia from Thailand. The religious toleration rate in that country is 1.1%. The Malaysian police are also corrupted officials who threaten us to pay them money or will send us to jail whenever they saw us. 
           I worked in a construction site in downtown, Kuala Lumpur (Capital City of Malaysia) which has the famous twin tower in southeast Asia. I worked under the supervision of a Islamic Malaysian who tormented me with more work than his fellow Malaysian citizens. He will assign me to do things with his feet pointing here and there... It was very intimidating but I needed the money, and with my status I was considered lucky to be offered a employment opportunity.... My job was to carry bricks up and down the stairs of a 20 story building in a 100 degrees Fahrenheit heat, in time I grew weak, I didn't have enough food to eat, nor the money to buy them...(to be continued on blog#7)

(This is how thin and malnourished I was back in Malaysia.)

Transititonal Stage (Blog#5)

                                  

  Burma ===>
  Thailand ===> Malaysia
 (Flag Images from: Wikipedia.org)

              Life in the United States is much different from Burma, Thailand, and Malaysia.. I now have access to 24 hours of electricity, running water, and food. The first day I spent in Lowell, I ate a whole pack of chicken Ramen Noodles and roasted chicken. Me and my sister devoured the food rigorously thinking: "this is paradise!" To be honest, food was scarce back in Asia because the rich plantation and farm owners only sought to export their goods to other countries so that they could make more profits.
             The government of Burma in particular, does not care about its citizens and their well being even though their revenues can feed the entire country for at least 3 years. I better not get into politics because that country is still not free, they still censor everything. I remember hunting for food when I was in Thailand, I had a slingshot and a bamboo spear. I will roam around the jungle with some other kids looking for rabbits, chickens, squirrels, and all kinds of birds. We would also set up traps made out of branches and leaves and often times we will be able to catch more than we hunt mostly because we were inexperienced hungry kids who just want some food. 
              When I got to Malaysia, everything changed.. There, I worked in a construction site owned by a Chinese Boss. I was 12 years old back then and I can no longer get food for 'free' from the jungle, I had to work with my hands to earn money to buy food. I wasn't paid fairly, I was paid only half of what they pay their 'legal' workers, a lot of that is actually based on what kind of manger or supervisor you get, some are very sympathetic and others, not so much. Also religion plays a very important role in Malaysia because it's a very strong Islamic country and their religious toleration is not so great, they rarely tolerate it. Being a illegal christian immigrant in a Islamic country is not a pleasant experience...
(To be continued on Blog#6)