It’s a matter of choice really… you mentioned it quite right about adaptation; Canada or other countries might be better than Malaysia in some sense, but perhaps not everyone can adapt to the environment.

I can’t really agree that we won’t be treated as 2nd class citizens in other countries; there will still be racial biased, but at least we will have a more equal chance to get to the top fair and square.

Let me share my personal experience with you. I am a Malaysian Indian. I lived in Australia for around 10 years, and the US for around 7 years. In the US I was doing my PhD, then I went out to work. I was in a US$90k job, providing technical advice to counsel on patent litigation.

After Sept 11 it became really difficult to get a green card, so I decided to migrate to Canada. I moved here in Nov, have been looking for a job and I’ve had some interviews. One was successful, but one of my references didn’t reply in time so the company gave the job to someone else. However I am interviewing with another company now, so I hope that turns out well.

The point is: The US or Canada or Australia is not perfect. However, many people from India and China have done extraordinarily well in the US. I have friends from India who did MBAs in top schools (Stanford, Berkeley) and went out to fantastic jobs. Per capita, Indian Americans are the richest racial group in the US. A lot of the top guys in Silicon Valley are Indians (first generation or born in the US)

Also, let’s face the facts: Condoleeza Rice, the US Secretary of State is a black woman, who previously was the Chancellor of Stanford. Granted we might not like her politics, but let’s face it: Would you ever see someone from a minority in Malaysia end up in such prominent positions? Try finding one minority Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor in a Malaysian university.

Colin Powell, the previous US Secretary of State is also black. He was the US military Chief of Staff. Again, would you ever see someone from a minority get that far in Malaysia? The current Canadian Governor-General (Michelle Jean) is a black lady. The previous one (Adrienne Clark) was a Chinese lady.

If you do want to live in another country, you have to learn to adapt. Things are different, learn to accept that they are different and see how you can live in the country. It also comes down to you: Sure, you won’t be able to get roti canai at 3 am. However I don’t get treated like a second-class citizen even though I am from a minority. I don’t live in fear of some extremist Muslim mob rampaging through the streets of KL killing non-Muslims.

One final point: I’ve actually visited Silicon Valley plenty of times as I have friends there. Whenever I meet someone there, they always ask me: “Are you some kind of computer engineer or software engineer?” I wonder whether people in KL have the same assumptions about Indians.