The Chinese media and netizens have been lashing out at the Malaysian government, branding it killers, while demanding Malaysian artistes in China leave their country, boycotting Malaysian products and travel, even painting Malaysians as beasts, rubbish and lowly beings.
I feel a deep chill running down my spine as if more salt is being rubbed on our sore wound.
Even before the truth can be told, MAS, the Malaysian government and all ordinary citizens of this country have already been indicted and condemned, good only for hell.
What crime has the country committed that we deserve all this? I was pondering hard.
What came up in my mind was the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008.
Early in the morning, a long queue formed in front of the main gate of Sin Chew Daily headquarters, people silently lining up under the scorching sun as they inched their way to the counter where they would hand out pieces and even stacks of ringgit banknotes to be donated to the Chinese quake victims.
When I went for lunch at a nearby restaurant, the boss quickly wrote me a RM5,000 cheque and said, "Anonymous will do!"
We despatched rescue teams while Foguangshan and Tzu Chi sent their people to the disaster zone in the hope of saving a few more lives and feeding a few more empty stomachs.
Philanthropists from Malaysia rushed there to build primary schools strong enough to withstand any future disaster so that no more innocent children would have to die again.
What also sprang up in my mind was the liberalisation of social visits between people of our two countries in 1991, when one after another MAS plane started to land in the airports of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, carrying with them the hopes and dreams of many a visiting Malaysian.
To many of us, everything in China was so refreshingly fascinating despite the facts we were given a hard time at immigration checkpoints, yells at restaurants and cheated at souvenir shops.
Well, these were all condoned and understood. No Malaysians would get mad or protest boisterously.
Not even when a tour bus plunged into the valley, killing many Malaysians. How could we blame anyone? It was accident.
What also came back to me were the 1938 historical accounts of overseas Chinese engineers in Southeast Asia, the memories of which were brought back to life in an article on the op-ed column in Sin Chew Daily last week.
During the war of resistance against the Japanese occupation, large swathes of land along the coast and hinterland of China were occupied by the Japanese, cutting off the Allies' military equipment and supplies into China.
The only other possible access had been from the southwest, through the tortuous hilly trails from Burma into the province of Yunnan.
Several thousand youths from Malaya joined the transportation team, driving lorries, working as technicians, risking the Japanese shelling and dangers of falling over perilous cliffs. All that they wanted was to get the supplies delivered into the hands of the Chinese people.
Some 1,800 young men from Malaya lost their lives along the road from Burma to Yunnan by the end of the war.
I also remember how Malaysians had prayed for the safe return of those on board MH370, including 153 passengers from China, in March 2014.
Every life has to be cared for and no effort shall be spared to bring them back safely irrespective of their nationality and race.
MAS and the Malaysian government have made painstaking arrangements to bring the relatives of Chinese passengers here while local volunteers have served as interpreters, caregivers and counsellors.
What also came back to me was when Malaysia became the first Southeast Asian country to establish diplomatic ties with China four decades ago, and the first to oppose any international sanction against China after the Tiananmen Square incident 25 years ago, and how we championed for a dialogue between Asean and China and for the establishment of the Asean 10+1 mechanism.
But today, before even a clearer picture has come by, Malaysia has found itself arbitrarily indicted and slammed.
Sure enough, such is only how a small percentage of Chinese nationals will think and act, but the overwhelming onslaught from these people has tainted the reputation of our country, with few sensible people having the guts to say the truth.
I mention these, not to vent my frustration or retaliate. I only hope that more people, in particular Chinese nationals, will understand how hurt and devastated we feel.
There is no way a cordial bond between our people and mutual trust between our nations should get crushed this easily. – www.mysinchew.com, March 28, 2014.
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