Migrant Perspectives

Migrants have actively settled outside their country of origin in history, especially in the eighty years since the Second World War of the 20th century. Emigration can be categorised due to the following main causes: Economic improvement. Seeking refuge from war, discrimination and oppression. Realising oppprtunities not found in the homeland. Finding cultural, religious and heritage familiarity in other nations. Personal marriage and partnership reasons. Settling down after studying overseas. Fleeing from political differences in pursuit of personal freedom. Straddling between country of origin and investing in new markets. Posted by government of country of origin to serve overseas. Making use of greater mobility to travel, on line flexibility and welcome by foreign nations. A strong sense of adventure to try new experiences. The concept and practice of dual nationality, permanent residency and limited visa stays in a nation have allowed millions to build a life, social networks and businesses away from the country of origin. Western nations particularly have admitted a huge flow of migrants to enter their society. In so doing, this process has limited the drop in natural births, the economic impact of an aging society, a reduction of working tax payers and problems in finding enough people to do essential roles in aged care, gig jobs and medical services. How often do we hear of people migrating to Africa, with all respect to the potential and actual growth of an often under estimated continent. It is not just the difference in standards of living that is considered - but also differences in political governance, the array of personal freedoms and costs of daily needs that can factor in the choice of destination nation to move to. Vibrant city states, lower tax havens and past track records are important to individuals and families making the significant move. What happens when emigrants who came years ago suddenly find that social attitudes, political climate, previously attractive regulations and economic vibrancy have changed compared to when they first arrived? It can get even more of a shake up when the younger generations of earlier migrants find other cities and countries more relevant for them to build a career or business than the one they grew up in. No economy or nation can hold the lead forever. Real competition changes parameters in technology, education, incentives, financial structure, resilience, risk management and social vibrancy. Governments with politicians and bureaucracy stuck on mindsets and approach that do not change with realities and agility can see the rot with their embedded denials and refusal to tackle challenges. The 21st century has offered changing rules, structures and trends which some nations grab by the horns and which others have already fallen down the proverbial slippery slope. So new generations can migrate to new locations. The creation of diasporas and their history depend on changing shifts in power and passion. Colonial powers no longer keep a hold of luring migrants in the same way as in the 19th and 20th centuries. What is attractive today may be sustained or changed suddenly by the varying factors of geopolitics, trade and culture. Individuals and groups with a different ethnicity from rhe mainstream of society they settle in can find a whole varying range of receptions. They may always find themselves viewed on the fringe or as a minority. It also depends on the governance structure and humanity emphasis of the nation they move to. When socio-economic problems develop, are migrants an easy target to blame on, even if they are not related to the burgeoning issue? Are contemporary societies becoming more selfish, dropping equity and fairness standards and practice in dealing with people with a different religion, skin colour and culture? To illustrate, an issue possibly facing the disapora with Chinese or Indian backgrounds is a question of their loyalty to their home country or adopted migrant nation. There can be complexity or confusion when we try to sort out their cultural affinity or loyalty, as opposed to their political affirmation. Japanese and Germans in America were treated with utmost suspicion in the USA when the latter fought with Nazi Germany and Imperialist Japan. This complication indeed can affect all induviduals having dual citizenships. Do individuals and families eventually return to their home country they left years before? Retirees with a higher purchasing power, perhaps mainly due to a better currency exchange, can consider making second homes in lower cost locations. Perhaps such individuals can claim pensions from both their migrated and home countries. Costs of food, accommodation and leisure can be so much cheaper - but more than not is the quality of medical care and treatment. Such arrangements of relocation may also cause problems in social networking for baby boomers. Movement of peoples do not occur in silo or vacuum. Personal experiences, culinary skills, habits of society and inherent heritage patterns are transferred to and shared in the new society. How a new place interacts with, accepts or pushes back the vibes of new migrants ( especially if they arrive in vast numbers within a relatively short time) is most significant. When permanent residents of a foreign country return to the nation of their citizenship, they are likely to feel they fully belong to either location. They have left their country of origin - and they may not have fully integrated with the mainstream of their adopted nation. #yongkevthoughts

Penang Free School

It has been 210 years since a Reverend Robert Sparke Hutchings from colonial England had the foresight, took the courage and established a fledging high school on a settlement in the tropics so far away from his home county in Dorset. This school was founded on a then bold idea of admission of students from any religious or cultural background. It was on an island off the coast of the Straits of Malacca, in an age of maritime adventure in a part of the world where European powers had been competing for the riches of the Spice Islands. This island is Penang, which now lures tourists, overseas retirees, investment options and social influencers. At that time, in 1816, when the Penang Free Scbool was founded, her relatively liberal and progressive principles of operation and existence went against the grain of educational institutions founded on Christian religious orders. The word “Free” emphasised the freedom in several aspects - the freedom to develop one’ s mindset, the freedom of “why not” and the freedom to mix and exchange ideas in a diverse society of George Town. I have been fortunate that my parents encouraged me and I spent seven years in this institution, the oldest school in South east Asia established by the British. The school buildings still exist in good form in the 21st century, with columns of white, inspiring passage ways and spacious areas of green turf. Alumni of PFS (fondly calling themselves Old Frees) are spread all over several nations. English was the lingua franca inculcated in the hearts and modus operandi of the students who passed through her hallowed hallways. The colonial language bound the network of youngsters each with their different mother tongues on the island of Penang. This extensive dominance of English has been whittled away in PFS as the governing political authorities escalated the prioritisation of the Malay language. Today, Putonghua ( simplified northern Mandarin) has gripped the loyalty of the overseas Chinese diaspora, descendants of people who left the shores of dynastic and 20th century China. Singapore elevated the use and knowledge of spoken and written Pu Tong Hua ( the “people’s common tongue”, as opposed to the variety of other languages within China itself) - and the rest is history. Visit PFS today and one can sense past sensations of competitive sports, of sweaty adolescence, unity in group singing and rituals of fraternity and the tension of sit down examination halls. I can easily recall the crowdedness of where we parked our bicycles, seemingly quiet afternoons of sitting below hundred year old trees and the calmness of going early at sunrise to classrooms. We as students were divided into different sports teams, named mostly after past head masters with surnames like Cheeseman, but there was also one sports house called Wu Lien Teh. This was in honour of a significant epidomologist in northern China at the beginning of the 20th century. Lien Teh grew up in colonial Penang, was a PFS alumni and is also credited with effectively showing the benefits of masking up as working protection against respiratory infectious diseases in public. Yes, that very same facial mask the contemporary world got used to in the face of the Covid 19 pandemic in the years 2020 to 2021. To be a Free alumni holds a special inner joy, but also made us want to contribute to the world in whatever small or larger way as an adult, far from the heady teenage years of the past. The daily encouragement of teachers, that special feel of assembling in the school hall and the sense of belonging to a unique entity inevitably gets into our blood veins and inner purpose. Every 21st of October, the grave of the dear Reverend Hutchings is visited by old and current students, to show respect for a special human being whose efforts go beyond the limits of time and geography in inspiring each one of the students to do better for the world. The grave is kept safe at the Northarm Road Cemetery in George Town, now a UNESCO world heritage site. Every 21st of October, alumni still meet up for a meal, whether in Penang, elsewhere in Malaysia or in a foreign city, like a gathering tribe, to reconnect with past classmates and other people who have gone through the PFS experience when our minds were still absorbing and developing. Predominantly a school for boys, girls were eventually admitted into the final two years for the HSC examinations. The females joining us as classmates came from totally all girls schools - and one can imagine the electric like social implications of adjustment, wonder and growth for everyone involved. When reunions occur, most of us forget our various positions and roles in adult life. We choose to, however temporarily, revert to memories of innocent times growing up, comfortably under the banner of that educational entity that gave us a mix of discipline, personal learning, hazy days of friendship, laughter and tears, crossing beyond our fears and finding channels for our ambitions. I can still visualise the aged dark brown desks. I recall where my fav mates sit. We wore uniforms of white to reduce the effects of the cruel heat of the midday sun. We loved time out on the courts or field, but especially more on excursions further afield, whether as scouts on the water along Penang Island’s northern beaches or in private socials up Penang Hill. There were the performing arts on stage, creative paintings and more. I especially value the magic of Friday afternoons, just after school, when my mates and I could do something special together before heading home. 27.10.26 #yongkevthoughts

Somewhere In Time

Some views hold that time is just a useful invention of humans and not a natural phenomenon. Time management is the basis of human society. Without the structure offered by time, a calendar and scheduling, civilisation would not have progressed. As you may have heard, time moves like the flow of a river. The waters pass by a bank, but it is never the same water. Moments to us can be compared to that flowing water. Each of us can reflect on that moment we remember with relish - but we will never be able to go back to that moment again. Time seems to go fast or slow down according to our emotions, how busy or not we are and when we are preoccupied with other things. Time is realised to be more finite once a person grows old. Time we have will not regenerate but brings each of us to recognise more of the impermanence of things. Forces of Earth remind us daily of the progress, completion and renewal of time in our lives. Sunrise, high noon and sunset. Perhaps more meaningful than feelings of the acceleration of time experienced in our personal lives is how and what we use time for every day of our lives. When one sinks into our interests, career and our loves, we can be less conscious about time. It does not matter about where all that time went, for we have focused and indulged into what we like to do with that dosage of time. It is only when we have a day when we are bored or feel stuck in a day of no progress that most likely we feel that time is moving so slowly. So how we feel about the progress of time has nothing to do at all with time. It is more about what we personally do with ourselves - and with our own time available to us. Giving your own time to someone else is a precious gift. #yongkevthoughts

Resilience and Challenges

The West would not necessarily be unable to cope with changes in the future. Resilience of a society can be more important than its wealth. Wealth does fortify economic resilience but not necessarily on other fronts. Resilience can be strengthened in the way society is organised ( informally and formally); cultural attitudes; recognition of her Achilles heels and doing something effective about it; and having a foresighted leadership. Most nations are still reckoning with lack of pre-emptive planning, effective risk management, business continuity preparation and forward thinking. What happens when one loses demand for a produce or product which has previously built up a society? Are the key institutions in my country remnants of 20th century needs rather than tools for a changed future? Some nations used to rule the waves but have not fully embraced the realities of increasing competition. Some societies have been in the comfort zone for too long and perhaps lost the hunger to constantly improve. Yet others are obsessed with other drivers that distract with building up their resilience. What had made particular nations wealthy in the past may no longer be relevant. Failure in adopting sufficient technology, political willingness, independent security, investments and strategic advantage to propel forward are telling signs of national erosion. Leaving critical fronts like relevant education, ownership of vital societal assets and outsourcing to the so called free market forces can be a capitulation of governmental responsibilities to commercialisation. Growth of wealth also exposes a society to new vulnerabilities and dependancies. The sustainability and growth of wealth has a cost to pay for never ending GDP growth and consumer spending. I take for granted how my fast accessibiity to data and information or digital payments relies on the internet, data centres and wifi always working. Greater mobility in air, sea and land travel is paid for by environmental pollution. The energy grid breaks down when demand spikes everywhere all at the same time in a society. There is a hidden cost to upholding how modern societies work. Such dependencies are increasingly controlled by the growing few who and which can manipulate the world with greater ease, funding and connections. Humans cannot escape interactions with so called Nature. Technological advances seem to be the forte of the human mind and capability. Depletion of natural resources, climate change and biological interference are just some examples of the downside. Global wealth enhancement has also come from increased linkages in trade, finance, supplies and dependencies. Globalisation can be a two edged sword in all meanings of the phenomenon. Does it require a hierarchy of varying levels of development in different societies to sustain and drive the growth of wealth? Lower labour costs in less developed societies were what made massive manufacturing hubs work. With AI, robotics and advanced mechanics already working, the equation can leave out much of human input. Are extensive channels of migration revitalising Western societies? The lack of population growth in richer societies ( especially at below replacement levels) has had this matter mitigated partly by the arrival and settlement of foreigners. Overall, Earth has never been populated as before. At the same time, personal wealth is significantly concentrated in fewer individuals. We recall the collapse of empires, city states and nations in history due to catastrophic natural episodes, plaques, removal of trading advantages and unexpected Black Swan events. How societies are organised in governance have an impact on wealth and the ever assumed expectation of continued rise in prosperity. Politicians in most countries do not have to undergo a formal training certification or a rigourous regime of performance evaluations to reach the top. Is the contemporary state of so called Western civilisation nations ready to take on the challenges of the rest of the 21st century? The European states used the power of sailing winds to explore and utilise lands for resources, political control and cultural expansion. What is the equivalent of such sailing ships in this century? Is it a hold on modern weaponry, or holding on to an economic dominance? Is it as simple as being able to manipulate other countries as you have something that most other nations do not? #yongkevthoughts

Critical Passages and Chokepoints

The world's critical waterway chokepoints affecting trade, supplies, shipping and tourism have always been relevant for a long time now. The UK and Europe has taken strategic and stakeholder interests in Suez - while the USA even took control of the land strips beside the Panama Canal. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Dutch, Portuguese and British fought for the Straits of Malacca. Singapore sits at the southern end of the Malacca Straits, a very important junction between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. The Black Sea is vital to Russia, Ukraine and the surrounding landlocked states, thereby making the Bosporus Straits near Istanbul a vital opening to the Sea of Marmara. What about other significant water passages that are of value, historical concern and contemporary risk? The Sea of Japan between the southern Japanese island of Kyushu and the Korean Peninsular. The Mongols in the 13th century CE launched ships to attempt conquering the Japanese isles, but were rebuffed by typhoons in 1274 and 1281, that are now fondly referred to as the Kamikaze ( Divine Winds). The Straits of Gilbratar, narrow and small as it may be, is the only gateway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The British still maintain a tiny colonial foothold in Gilbratar, sandwiched between Spain and Morocco. Command of a narrow but strategic waterway pays off not only in military advantages, but also historically in revenue collection, geopolitical bargaining and in trading. The Torres Strait lies between Papua New Guinea and Cape York Peninsular in northern Queensland. It forms the shortest stretch of ocean between Asia and Australia. It was a channel of cultural exchange, trade and biological influences long before British settlement and the formation of modern Australia. The Baltic Sea, particularly the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothmia, are of top security and national importance to Russia and its neighbours of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia , Finland, Poland and Sweden. Underwater cables carrying data and communications, submarine use and a much needed relatively fair weather water passageway out of landlocked territories - all these offer benefits and stakeholder advantages. The Taiwan Straits is near the economically vibrant Bay area of southern China and her key cities of Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hong Kong and Macao. Taiwan was named as Formosa (the Beautiful Island) by the Portuguese maritime explorers. Apart from the Taiwan Indigenous ( who are related to the Polynesians), Taiwan had been populated from the 17th century onwards, by migrants ( Hakkas and Hoklos) from the southern Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, before being taken over by Japan when the island nation won the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 against Qing Dynasty China. After the Japanese Imperialists surrendered in 1945 in the closure of the Second World War in the Pacific, Taiwan was returned to a China fighting a civil war. The Nationalists in China fled to Taiwan when they lost political control of the mainland to the Communists in 1949. In the almost 80 years since, Taiwan has been governed in varying ways different from mainland China. The Johore Straits separate the island republic of Singapore from the peninsular of the Federation of Malaysia. There are two causeways, fully utilised to the core every day with goods, produce and people. The Japanese Imperial army crossed over in early 1942 from the north ( Malayan peninsular) to take over British colonial Singapore in a few weeks. The Johore Straits divides two separate nations which were once together in the same Federation, but now differ in several key features. A sizeable number of people reside on the Johore side of the Straits but work in Singapore. Halong Bay lies south of Guang Xi Province of China, which borders northern Vietnam. That area of water also has the tropical Chinese island of Hainan nearby. It has witnessed the intense bombings over Hanoi and Haiphong during the worst years of the American War in Vietnam. Halong Bay has scenic limestone outcrops dotted over water. The St. Lawrence Seaway is the economic pipeline for eastern Canada, where most of her national population resides - and also for the north eastern United States. The so called seaway is a huge system of canals, rivers and locks that facilitate shipping, supplies, people movement and societal linkages. From inland provinces and small townships, it connects them to the northern Atlantic and serves the needs of two nations. Both national capitals of the USA and Canada are geographically near this never to be under estimated feature. Between Communist Cuba and Florida ( most south easterly state of the USA) is a stretch of water that does not take long to traverse. Known as the Straits of Florida, it connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. Refugees are familiar with its waters. Pirates roamed to plunder and seize two and three centuries ago. It can be a geopolitical beach head just north of the Caribbean, which itself has a variety of tax havens, economically challenged societies and vacation spots. California has an economic and financial vitality that exceeds many of the world's independent nations. It has a long Pacific Ocean coast, viable diverse migrant demographics and apart from Hawaii, is the setting for key military installations for the West Coast of the USA. The Bering Straits separate mainlands of both Russia and the USA ( Alaska). It is said human beings walked over landbridges that existed long ago before the sea waters of the Straits rose up. The Straits represent a geographical divide between two large nations with stark comparisons in governance, philosophy and culture. The English Channel is what keeps the European continent distinct from the British Isles. Nazi bombers, Saxon invaders, Roman Empire legions and contemporay migrants from outside Europe have all crossed this narrow geographical feature. The North Sea, stormy as it mostly is, is a buffer between Scotland, Iceland and Scandinavia. Petroleum rich, it is also a passage to Greenland and the Arctic. Occupying north western Europe, it had witnessed Viking sailing mastery of the waters. The Adriatic Sea was a strategic basin for the city state of Venice in the Renaissance. Evidence of Roman Empire settlements, architecture and heritage are accessible, for example, along the Croatian coasts. The Ottomans expanded along this part of mainland Europe, though they did not take Italy except for Sicily. The Adriatic remains significant today as a rough boundary between Catholic and Orthodox Christian Europe, or between Latin and Slav cultural regions. #yongkevthoughts