-M.Manogaran, Former Member of Parliament, January 28, 2017

In my several articles, readers would have noticed that I have said that we should learn from the Chinese. The Chinese are not a perfect race. No race is perfect, like in life, nothing is perfect. Even the religious books and texts are not perfect. The Chinese here I mean Malaysians of Chinese origin. People used to say, the only thing straight about the Chinese is their hair! This means the Chinese are not honest people and therefore they are not straight people and the only thing straight about them is their hair. Even that has changed as now we have many Chinese with wavy or curly hair.

What I mean is, we can learn, copy or emulate the positive traits of the Chinese community.  There is nothing wrong from following or copying something from people who are better than us in some aspects. Take a look at the Japanese people. After World War One they copied everything technical from the west. The Japanese are a highly disciplined people. They are also a very proud race. They copied and within a short time mastered every technological field from cars to electrical appliances which became household names worldwide. Who does not know about Toyota cars and Toshiba TVs. But they did not stop at cars and electrical appliances. They even went into watch making and cameras. Everything they touched became successful. That was due to sheer hard work and determination. In Malaysia the Chinese worked hard and made something for themselves. No one can disagree that the Chinese are a very successful community. Some of us will say that the Chinese community cheated their way through to making money. But that is not entirely true. They also worked very hard. They too went through tough times especially during the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Let us now see some of the positive traits we can copy or emulate from the Chinese.

 1. Unity

The Chinese are definitely a more united community compared to us or the Malays. Among the Indians the Tamils are the most disunited community. There is some truth in the crab story. In business the community helps each other. When it comes to their language and culture they get together. Even in Parliament there is some unity among the Chinese Parliamentarians. The Indian MPs are the worst where they cannot even agree on Tamil education and Tamil schools. There is a lot to learn from the Chinese community when it comes to Unity.

2.  Chinese New Year celebrations

For the Chinese it does not matter whether you are a Taoist, Confucian, Christian, Muslim or an Atheist. As long as you are a Chinese they all will celebrate Chinese New Year. But is it the same for Indians? Certainly not. When an Indian converts to Islam or Christianity he forgets and abandons his Indian roots. He changes his name so that he can lose his Indian identity. The Chinese also converts but somehow retains his Chinese name for example  from Tan Ah Kow to Albert Tan Ah Kow. What does an Indian who is an Hindu do? He will change his name from Ramasamy to Michael. Ramasamy can still pray to Jesus Christ and Christ will accept his prayers but the new Michael foolishly thinks that Jesus Christ will not accept his prayers if his name is not Michael? The same goes to new Muslim converts.

What I am stressing here is why not we like the Chinese celebrate our Tamil or Telugu or other ethnic New year even though we may be of different religions. Most Chinese no matter where they are or what religion they profess, they will attend the reunion dinner on New Year`s eve. This is the Unity they have but we even abandon our family name and father`s name the minute we convert to another religion. We can learn something from the Chinese here.

3.  Money culture and financial integrity

The Chinese have a strong money culture. Everything has a money value. Even at a funeral the people who come to pay their last respects can write their name at the register of attendance and donate some money. We Indians regard it as offensive if people paying their last respects do some donation.

The Chinese accept that they must pay for everything they want whether goods or services. Our community and the Malay community always want free services as though the whole world owes us a living. We always wait for people to do something for us for free. We do not have a culture that we must pay for everything we want in life. We have become a `free gift` or what I call a `Hamper society`.

As a lawyer I can tell the difference between the Chinese, Malays and Indians. When a Chinese comes for legal advice he will ask how much is the fees first before getting the advice. The Malay will ask how much is the fees and whether can get any discount after receiving the advice. The Indian will never ask about the fees at all and will leave your office promptly and go shopping to another lawyer!

So we must learn from the Chinese the value of money. Right now we do not have financial integrity as nobody really trusts us anymore.

4.   Talk less, work more

As a community we talk a lot as though we know everything. From the coffee shops to the pubs just sit and listen and we Indians are masters in every field. Non lawyers will talk like professional lawyers. Same is with doctors. We are a community who have wasted our lives just by talking endlessly without any practical direction. The Chinese by comparison talk less and do more. They are doers and we are talkers. We must talk less and do more.

5.    Philantrophy

The Chinese give money as donations in a big way. Just see the Chinese schools and the community gives millions to their schools. We give excuses. I do not believe that we Indians are not rich enough to donate to Tamil schools. We are selfish and would prefer to donate to temples. That is why our temples have marble floors but many of our Tamil schools do not even have proper classrooms or canteens. Our temples have golden statues but our Tamil school children do not even have proper breakfast or even proper shoes.

I am not against donating to temples, but why not donate to temples as well as Tamil schools. The community has got the money but is selfish. Go to the pubs on weekends all over town and see how many bottles Whisky and Brandy is finished within hours because the Indians are competing to drink expensive alcohol. But he will not give the same money to the impoverished Tamil schools. I am not against having fun and enjoyment but why not like the Chinese enjoy and donate as well.

The rich Chinese often help their community to start businesses. We Indians too have big businessmen but how many has help another Indian to become successful in business. MAIKA holdings started with RM100 million cash in the 1980s but lost everything and the persons responsible are leading wealthy lifestyles today. If the same RM100 million cash was given to the Chinese they would have made the RM100 million into RM1 billion in 20 years. Our rich Indian businessmen must learn to give back to society as no one would make it in life if someone else did not help them. Somewhere along the way someone opens the door for you. But our successful Indians often forget that.  Some very successful Indians give some money here and there but that is more for the record and is more of a token compared with the millions or billions they have. The people who really give back to the community are the Chinese and that is why they are very successful.

6.     Language and mother tongue

The Chinese really love their language. They will never compromise on their language or their Chinese schools. The Chinese speak their language proudly but we are embarrass to speak Tamil and try to speak in English to impress others. I have also noticed this among some Malays who will speak to their children in English when near non Malays in public places to show that they are also good in English. The worst are the Indian Muslims who will speak in Malay language among them although their mother tongue is Tamil especially so when they are in the company of other Indians or Tamils. What hypocrisy!

Like the Chinese we must be proud of our mother tongue. Unfortunately there are some among us who will even tell we do not need Tamil schools. In fact there is a president of a political party in our country who is a Tamil and he asked for Tamil schools to be closed down. With such leaders around we do not need an outside enemy as the enemy is within our own community. So let’s learn from the Chinese community on how they support and safeguard their mother tongue. I have never heard a Chinese community political leader asking for Chinese schools to be closed down.

7.     Focus and discipline

The Chinese are more focussed in whatever they do. They concentrate in whatever they set out to do whether it is good or bad, legal or illegal. With discipline they achieve their goals. Of course, some Chinese fail in their ventures but by and large they succeed because they are very focused and with the community`s support they succeed. We Indians give up easily and tend to get easily distracted and influenced by others. We lack persistence and perseverance especially in business.

8.     Emotional and superstitious

The Chinese are less emotional. Emotions can sometimes be a hindrance to success. We Indians are unnecessarily emotional. We can see that in a funeral where we cry inconsolably though we know that we must accept the passing away of someone as the normal and natural course of life. We tend to blame everyone and everything when something goes wrong in our life. We are also superstitious and believe in all kinds of things and blame others for own failures. While we believe in God we will run to a bomoh when something goes wrong in our lives. This is because we feel insecure. The Chinese are also superstitious but compared to us their numbers are small.

9.    Practical

Most successful communities are practical people. The Chinese community are very practical. They adapt quickly to changing circumstances and the changing environment. The concept of change is very real and not illusory. Anyone who resists change will be left behind and cannot progress. This the Chinese community knows very well and they adapt to changes in their lives much faster. In this ever changing world with the dynamics constantly changing and evolving we too must change and evolve in tandem with the changes. Because we are slow to change we suffer in the process and cannot keep up with other progressive communities. The Malays are also the same as we, the Indians. They are caught up in their own vicious cycle and are slow to react to a fast changing world.

10.   Politics

One of the areas the Chinese are superior to us is in the political arena. Hindraf came and opened the way to changes in politics but the community which took up the real political change and in the process benefiting most from the present political climate are the Chinese. As usual the Indians will start something great but will not really benefit from it. This is partly due to the failure of the so called Hindraf leaders who at the spur of the moment rose to the occasion momentarily but did not have the leadership qualities and vision to carry the community forward politically. So, while we brought the political change, unfortunately we did not benefit from our struggle. The Chinese are quick to adapt and assess the political changes and political climate for their benefit which is perfectly acceptable in this fast moving world.

Conclusion

I am not buttering the Chinese here. What I am saying is there are certain things we can learn from the Chinese. Why should not we be like the Japanese? They too were down and out at one time but have arisen to be one of the most successful communities in the world. So you may ask why not we learn from the Japanese rather than the Chinese. The reason why I am referring to the Chinese success story is because they are the nearest to us and it is easier for us to learn their ways as we can see them daily, not the Japanese.

Therefore, please do not think that I am praising the Chinese and belittling our own community. The Chinese too have many negative traits but we need not look at that because we want to learn only the positive traits. We too have a lot of positive traits and if we can combine with the positive traits of other communities we can be much better off and can rise to the world stage and be like the Japanese.