A FOREIGNER will be quite spot on describing parts of Kuala Lumpur (KL) as Downtown Dhaka. Right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, you will more than likely find shop fronts with signages that shout out foreign words in intricate cursive font. With a little bit of imagination, you’d be able to make out that these `come ons’ advertise services like repatriating cash to Chittagong or whose kitchen promises a nutritious meal of lentil soup; all to cater to a decidedly foreign pecuniary interest or dietary predilection.
We have Petaling Street as Chinatown and the whole of Brickfields promising the vibrant chaos of Little India. It would not be far off to describe the confluence of streets from Central Market in Jalan Hang Kasturi all the way to the still-existing Lin Hoe shoe department store in Jalan Hang Lekiu as a bastion of all that shouts; `This is Bangladesh!’
It is a given that the local Malay populace in any big city would never have countenanced a situation where the original Chinese denizens could ever be displaced, more so in commercially thriving KL. Look now – at how whole streets in the heart of old KL have been flushed clear and in their place are row upon row of shops that are outwardly owned, operated and patronised by Bangladeshis; and perhaps not a few Nepalis as well.
THE KL FACE; IT IS A-CHANGING
Welcome to the Malaysia that apparently can’t say no to this relatively cheap and easy font of manpower with undoubted capacity for truly hard menial endeavour.
But before we delve deeper let’s address the Malaysian ignorance about our Bangladeshi brethren, the country and its people.
Firstly, how many `red-necked’ Malaysians amongst us still ascribe the Bengali (pronounced locally by some as Bengoli) ethnic classification to our friends of the Sikh faith (they who profess to follow the teachings of Guru Nanak). The Punjabis – refer to all who trace their ancestral roots to the land of Punjab (so there are Sikh Punjabis as well as Muslim Punjabis) that is now located in both India and Pakistan. (It was upon separation in 1947 that a large portion of Muslim Punjab was carved up between Pakistan and India.
The story of the creation of Bangladesh however goes back to the days of the British Raj during the partition of India into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India. Muslim Pakistan was delineated in two separate halves (East and West) without regard that East Pakistan had nothing much in common with West Pakistan save for a shared religion.
MIGRANTS IN OUR MIDST
So now you are at least able to distinguish between Bangolees (sic) who come from Bangladesh (but more accurately those whose littoral roots are connected to the Bay of Bengal) from Punjabis from Punjab and who to Malaysians are mostly Sikhs.
Digression out of the way, back to our quest to understand this influx of migrants that is exercising our politicians, unions and even Papagomo (for reasons of decorum we will not make more intimate mention of him until his fate in relation to a viral video on the maltreatment of an alleged randy foreigner whose nationality is the topic of discussion is decided one way or the other).
Remember the green shirted petrol pump attendant whose command of the local language was confined to greeting you with the interrogatory ‘..hijau? (green)’ three months ago? They must have landed on our shores from either Dhaka or Cox’s Bazaar and that would have been our first wakeup call to their presence in our midst. (I for one cringe when we refer to them in the 3rd person as Bangla; which follows that I hesitate to use the pejorative term for Indonesians when addressing janitors in our midst who perhaps hail from Palembang or Madura or Jawa Timur).
Foreigners who brave the rough seas, run the gauntlet of perfidious labour agents or wave goodbye to kith and kin forever certainly look to their host nation for succour. More so when they land on the shores of countries like Malaysia that is haven compared to the troubled lands they have bolted from.
We are dealing with livelihoods, nay lives here. It is therefore quite unseemly that for some, the fate of a huge pool of people from Bangladesh – and elsewhere; is being decided for its potential of yielding economic booty .
For our politicians, administrators, unions and Papagomo who are now caught in the local polemic in attempting to unravel the issue of migrant labour; look to Emma Lazarus.
`Give me your tired, your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’ – The New Colossus; Statute of Liberty.
Razak Chik
Wed Feb 24 2016
The government had recently ordered the intake for all foreign workers including the 1.5 million Bangladesh workers to be frozen, with immediate effect. - Astro AWANI photo / SHAHIR OMAR
MOT, Khazanah, MAG perlu perkukuh tadbir urus MAB - PM Anwar
Jelas Anwar lagi, pengurusan syarikat penerbangan yang baik juga akan memberi manfaat kepada kakitangan melalui gaji yang setimpal dengan perkhidmatan mereka.
Kontroversi UM: Mahasiswa protes, tuntut tindakan tegas pihak jemput profesor pro-Israel
Sekumpulan mahasiswa Universiti Malaya (UM) hari ini mengadakan perhimpunan membantah tindakan menjemput penceramah pro-Zionis memberi ceramah di institusi itu baru-baru ini.
[INFOGRAFIK] Penstrukturan Semula Akaun KWSP | Berkuatkuasa 11 Mei 2024
Berikut adalah info berkenaan dengan Penstrukturan Semula Akaun KWSP.
Sekatan terhadap penceramah asing pro-Zionis demi keselamatan negara - Zambry
Sekatan terhadap penceramah asing pro-Zionis perlu dilihat dari aspek keselamatan dan imej negara yang boleh terjejas akibat kenyataan mereka.
Kekejaman zionis: Universiti Columbia ilhamkan gelombang protes nasional
Protes di Universiti Columbia membantah perang Israel di Gaza telah mencetuskan gelombang demonstrasi serupa di kampus kolej seluruh Amerika Syarikat.
Pemilik stesen minyak didenda RM30,000 jual RON95 kepada kenderaan asing
Hakim menjatuhkan hukuman itu ke atas Mohammad Naziruddin Abu Hassan, 61, selaku Orang Kena Saman (OKS) selepas mengaku bersalah atas pertuduhan itu.
Komen jelik tentang nahas helikopter TLDM, peniaga didenda RM23,000
Seorang peniaga dalam talian didenda RM23,000 oleh Mahkamah Sesyen Taiping pada Jumaat, selepas mengaku bersalah atas tuduhan memuat naik komen jelik berhubung nahas helikopter milik Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) di Lumut, yang mengorbankan 10 mangsa.
Lima laluan ditutup sementara sempena hari penamaan calon PRK KKB esok
Jalan yang terlibat bagi penutupan sementara itu ialah Jalan Merdeka, Jalan Abdul Hamid, Jalan Dato Muda Jaafar, Jalan Mat Kilau dan Jalan Kamarudin.
[TERKINI] Mahasiswa bersama Palestin
Sekumpulan mahasiswa Universiti Malaya yang berang dengan tindakan Institut Pengajian China, Universiti Malaya (UM) menjemput individu pro-Zionis untuk menyampaikan seminar ilmiah, akhirnya turun berdemonstrasi bagi menyuarakan bantahan mereka terhadap Zionis dan sokongan mereka terhadap perjuangan membebaskan Palestin.
#AWANInews
#AWANInews
[TERKINI] Sarjana ‘berkualiti rendah’ tak patut dijemput - PM Anwar
Universiti Malaya sebelum ini menerima kecaman kerana membenarkan Gilley menyebarkan propaganda Zionis dan menuduh ahli politik Malaysia yang menyokong perjuangan Palestin menyebarkan kebencian terhadap Yahudi.
'Ubah persepsi pendidikan TVET pengajian kelas kedua'
Bajet 2022 wajar mengambil kira kemampuan golongan belia di negara ini dalam sektor 3D.
Kucing bersaiz 154.5 meter persegi peneman orang awam lalu-lalang di Shinjuku
Sebuah papan tanda iklan yang bersaiz 1,664 kaki persegi di daerah Shinjuku, Tokyo memaparkan seekor kucing 3D yang seakan-akan nyata.
Bidang berkait teknologi akan dapat permintaan tinggi - Muhyiddin
Minat generasi baru perlu dipupuk untuk menceburi bidang berkaitan teknikal meskipun ia kerap dikaitkan dengan istilah 3D iaitu Dirty, Difficult and Dangerous.
Perkukuh STEM dan TVET, lahir lebih ramai pemimpin dalam kalangan warga teknikal
Minat generasi baharu dalam bidang teknikal terutamanya kejuruteraan perlu dipupuk, sekaligus membuang persepsi negatif yang melingkarinya.
MPOA sambut baik Pelan Rekalibrasi PATI, tampung kekurangan tenaga kerja
MPOA menyambut baik tawaran kerajaan berhubung Program Rekalibrasi Tenaga Kerja yang meregularisasikan pendatang asing tanpa izin (PATI) di negara ini.
Hebatnya teknologi, tempurung kepala pun boleh diganti
Muhammad Azrul Mohamad Rani, namanya mungkin tidaklah dikenali namun mungkin dia adalah antara contoh terbaik insan yang menerima manfaat daripada kecanggihan teknologi.
Transformasi segera sektor pertanian, pelancongan mampu kurangkan pengangguran di Sabah
Penganalisis ekonomi, Dr Madeline Berma berkata pembangunan secara mampan di negeri itu, sekali gus dapat mengurangkan kadar pengangguran di Sabah yang ketika ini mencatatkan 5.8 peratus.
Perak mahu hasilkan tangan palsu bantu OKU
Sehingga kini lebih 60 tangan prototaip elektronik cetakan 3D yang berharga antara RM5,000 hingga RM10,000 seunit berjaya dihasilkan.
Upin dan Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal rangkul Anugerah Filem Cetera Terbaik di Festival ANIMAZE 2019
Filem animasi tempatan Upih dan Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal berjaya merangkul Anugerah Filem Cetera Terbaik dalam Festival Animasi Antarabangsa 2019 di Montreal, Kanada pada 4 September lalu.
Anak muda tak memilih, sanggup ambil kerja 'dirty, difficult, dangerous' - Syed Saddiq
Kesukaran segelintir anak muda mendapat pekerjaan di negara ini bukan kerana mereka memilih atau meminta gaji yang tidak realistik.