'American friends, you can't love your country only when its strong'

Folks from the United States are declaring that they will move to China. The Chinese response on Little Red Book was blunt.

The cyberpunk city of Chong Qing. Many Americans were wowed by Chinese cities, and have declared they want to move to China. Photo by Peijia Li on Unsplash

Many foreign vloggers love Malaysia. They love it so much that they declare that they’re moving to my country.

In fact, there’s one American vlogger who “moved” here despite not having a proper job or income. Just living off, well, savings, I guess. He is able to mostly because the dollar is a much stronger currency and his money goes far. However, at one point, he ran out of money and started asking for donations.

His kind followers did give him some money and he thanked them for enabling him to stay in Malaysia longer.

I, on the other hand, was turned off by it all. Why are you in Malaysia when you can’t even pay for your life here? What are you doing in my country if you’re not doing anything to contribute to it except making vlogs about how cheap yet modern my country is?

Whether it’s the United States or England or Canada, whatever, many people are thinking of escaping their countries. Usually to Asia. They often say in the videos that Asia is where they can “live for cheap in luxury”, which always makes my stomach twist with slight disgust.

(This is also really ironic because it used to be, once upon a time, people like me who wanted to move to the West. Watching the reverse happen is rather surreal.)

So, when I saw so many Americans saying that they want to move to China, I sighed a little and imagined a flock of foreigners dreaming about “living for cheap in luxury” in China.

The response is surprisingly blunt. (Yes, the Chinese can be very nice, but they’re also ruthlessly blunt.)

Here’s one post I saw on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book):

Here’s an AI translation of the post:

After understanding these days, I also discovered some differences between the Chinese and American people. Although everyone is hardworking and brave, and willing to endure hardships, Americans are more able to endure hardships. You can even work two jobs, sell blood, and have children without going to the hospital...

But the problem is, many American friends are saying "to leave this damn place." We Chinese people never think that way. If there is a problem, we should change, fight, and build. We have been like this for thousands of years, never avoiding it.

When the flood comes, we don't build an ark, we build a river, build a dam, instead of running from one place to another, and then screwing up and running.

If you have enjoyed the prosperity and glory of your country, you should accept its failure and backwardness. What you need to do is protect her, build her, and defend her, not letting her be destroyed by those worms.

Another comment said: “Over a decade ago, many people would talk all day about how great foreign countries were, such as their various welfare benefits and product quality, etc. However after hearing this, the thought most of us had was, ‘This is so good! I also want to build our country like this’. It is this kind of thinking that has led to the China of today.”

Many Chinese netizens also commented in various posts": “We’re not an immigration country” or “it’s very difficult to get a permanent resident here”.

‘I want to move to China’. But did you ask us first?

Or did they assume they can just waltz in and take over like they did in the past?

I’m probably overthinking things, but I guess we Asians are a tad worried about the whole thing, what with our history of being colonised and all.

The xiaohongshu post helped me understand the discomfort I felt. Yes, I think part of it is this weird feeling that we’re being colonised again. The annoyance that we’re not asked if we’re okay about having people just come to our country to “live for cheap in luxury”.

But I think it’s also the discomfort of watching people so quickly abandon their loyalties for a life of comfort.

This is a complex topic, of course. And honestly, Malaysians have been doing this for years, going to the West to live a better life, many eagerly cutting off their citizenship the moment they could. In fact, so many have told me: “Malaysia no hope already.”

Not all of us have a choice to leave though. So, the Malaysians who chose to stay had to fight to change the country. I mean, what choice do we have? Make videos complaining about it on the Internet?

If you read Malaysia’s history since 2008, you’d be shocked at the amount of turmoil we had endured.

“No matter how overwhelming the negativity is from the government, we must push back.” - Ambiga Sreenevasan, former Berish chairperson

I am awed that Malaysian (including my friends and relatives) came out en masse to brave water cannons, and arrests during the Bersih rallies to demand for change. We did it despite believing that change would not happen. We did it because, not doing anything would be criminal and doom us.

The fact that change did happen was an absolute miracle, but it did not happen if Malaysians were not united. Even those living abroad pitched in to cast their votes and spread the message.

Mind you, at one point during our long fight, what many would think of as “Islamists” were marching side by side with the progressives.

But it wasn’t an upward trajectory, this change. We took one step forward, then got hit and we collapsed. We took another big leap forward in 2018 when the opposition finally took over the government, only to be crushed by a coup. And then suddenly, here we have another government again, led by a prime minister who spent a lion’s share of his life as a political prisoner.

However, I expect another crush and disappointment. It’s just the way it is. Malaysians are realists. We’ll do the best we can to avoid it, but if it does come, we’ll stand and fight another day. We have no choice.

That’s the thing about fighting for the kind of country you want. It’s never a straightforward, enjoyable upward progress. It’s a journey filled with deep valleys.

The difference is that people are united and did not quit when the going gets frightening and difficult.

I don’t know what I’m trying to say in this newsletter issue, or whether I should even say it, but I see what’s happening in the US with sadness. The moment I see an American paint “the other side” as less than human, I know that they will never change the country, because they don’t see each other as fellow countrymen but as enemies.

The media (legacy and alternative ones) is still playing the same game, painting the other side as “stupid” or “backwards” or “woke”.

Friends, listening and participating in this constant quarelling on media, social media and in real life, isn’t going to get you anywhere. It’s entertainment; it’s distraction from what you really need to do. Work together as one to demand change.

I’ve tried talking to some Americans online. When I tell them that the left and right needs to unite and change their country, it’s as if I was speaking Greek, and that it would never ever happen.

I don’t know why I’m writing this, really. It’s probably the last thing my American readers want to hear right now, but I just want to say that change can happen if you’re united.

I hope you have a good rest of the week!

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