{"id":5387,"date":"2026-04-23T06:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T06:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/?p=5387"},"modified":"2026-04-25T06:58:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T06:58:49","slug":"the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/2026\/04\/23\/the-pot-calling-the-kettle-black\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"536\" src=\"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-169.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-169.png 1000w, https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-169-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-169-768x412.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cartoon Chinese Immigrants 1880 NThe Tables Turned American Cartoon Suggesting What City Streets Might Look Like To Irish-Americans As A Result Of Increased Chinese Immigration Cartoon 1880.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Rohingya, Migrants, and Our Selective Memory<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A Selangor assemblyman recently warned of a \u201cRohingya influx\u201d in Pandan Perdana as a public safety concern. Similar sentiments surfaced in Melaka, where Rohingya and other foreign nationals were discouraged from holding public gatherings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fine. Raise concerns.<br>But let us not lose <strong>historical memory<\/strong> in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malaysia did not just tolerate Rohingyas\u2014it <strong>helped build their future<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1988, at ABIM headquarters in Wangsa Maju, its president Ahmad Azam Abdul Rahman told me they had a Rohingya-run Burmese department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under Anwar Ibrahim as Education Minister, Rohingya students entered IIUM. Many graduated, some with MScs and PhDs, and later migrated onward to the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malaysian leaders across the political spectrum spoke up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi supported international advocacy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Najib Razak and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi backed public demonstrations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wan Azizah Wan Ismail lobbied through ASEAN parliamentary channels<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Charles Santiago and others raised refugee concerns, including Myanmar Christians<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Malaysia once stood tall on humanitarian grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During COVID, sentiment shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Provocative social media behaviour by individuals like \u201cLong Tiger,\u201d combined with risky boat arrivals during strict quarantine, ignited widespread anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the ground, real issues surfaced:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Overcrowding<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Poor sanitation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cultural friction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These are legitimate concerns. But they are <strong>management problems\u2014not justification for collective blame<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us be blunt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every migrant wave\u2014<strong>including those now settled and prosperous\u2014came with baggage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early Chinese migration into Malaya:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Built the tin mining economy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>But also brought secret societies, opium dens, prostitution, and gang conflicts\u2014under colonial structures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet today, those descendants are pillars of the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So what changed?<br><strong>Time, opportunity, and acceptance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Hypocrisy of Migrants Against Migrants<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is not unique to Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mainland Chinese face discrimination in Hong Kong and Singapore<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Earlier migrants often look down on later arrivals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Even Donald Trump\u2014a product of migrant lineage\u2014rose on anti-migrant rhetoric<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>History repeats itself\u2014with different actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When Burma Was the \u201cHeaven\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once upon a time, Rangoon was the dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aw Chu Kin, father of the Tiger Balm founders, described Singapore and Penang as muddy, unsafe, and full of vice\u2014while Burma was \u201cheaven on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Myanmar is a place people flee<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Malaysia and Singapore are destinations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fortunes reverse. Memory fades.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>If History Had Turned Slightly\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>During the Japanese occupation, Lee Kuan Yew once queued, thinking he would receive ration coupons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was actually recruitment for the Burma Railway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A friend pulled him away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Had that not happened, history might have taken a different turn.<br>Singapore\u2019s founding father could have ended up a <strong>war victim\u2014or even a refugee in Burma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>History is fragile. Fate is unpredictable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Migration is not a one-way story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to centuries of Siamese pressure in northern Malaya, many Malays migrated into Burma.<br>Their descendants became recognized as the <strong>Pashu<\/strong>, an ethnic minority within Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They were accepted. Absorbed. Given identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, their descendants exist quietly as part of Myanmar\u2019s complex ethnic fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I once shared a scanned cartoon from a Malaysian Chinese newspaper\u2014depicting young Chinese women arriving at immigration, portrayed as \u201cChinese dolls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was later removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because even satire exposes an uncomfortable truth:<br><strong>Every community has, at some point, been stereotyped, objectified, or feared as \u201cthe other.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Migration is not a crime. It is the human story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gautama Buddha walked across regions<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Moses led an exodus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jesus Christ lived under displacement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) migrated in the Hijrah<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Migration is survival. Migration is dignity. Migration is destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Real Question Nobody Wants to Ask<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Why do people flee Myanmar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not just Rohingya.<br><strong>All races. All religions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even educated citizens choose illegality abroad over dignity at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is not a migration problem.<br>That is a <strong>state failure problem<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, there are problems.<br>Yes, there are tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let us not pretend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Today\u2019s critics were yesterday\u2019s migrants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Today\u2019s stability was built by outsiders<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Today\u2019s \u201cothers\u201d may be tomorrow\u2019s citizens<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To forget this is not just unfair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because when memory is erased,<br><strong>the pot will always call the kettle black.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>READ ALSO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/category\/nation\/2026\/04\/22\/rohingya-influx-in-pandan-perdana-a-public-safety-concern-says-assemblyman\">Rohingya influx in Pandan Perdana a public safety concern, says rep<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Burmese_Malays\">Burmese Malays<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/category\/nation\/2021\/03\/31\/bukit-malut-people-are-malays-not-rohingyas-says-dr-m?fbclid=IwAR2ye_Is3q7LYXn_oTfGqFYQXtXF92oOs5JhoaVmA2Mfo1WnDiSpo4rT4To\">Bukit Malut people are Malays, not Rohingya, says Dr M. <em>Inhabitants are largely nomadic Malays that have migrated to Thailand and Myanmar over the years, says former PM.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4\/ &nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/drkokogyi.wordpress.com\/2010\/12\/06\/hijrah-denied-by-muslim-countries\/\">Migration is a natural phenomena even practiced by Prophets and&nbsp;\u201cgods\u201d&nbsp;<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/drkokogyi9.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/08\/buddha-moses-jesus-prophet-mohammad-pbuh-and-many-other-prophets-and-religious-leaders-were-migrants\/?relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=0&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=0\">Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) and many other prophets and religious leaders were&nbsp;migrants<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/drkokogyi9.wordpress.com\/2016\/09\/04\/governments-and-people-around-the-world-never-know-nor-understand-the-basic-reasons-why-many-myanmar-citizens-of-all-races-and-religions-wish-to-leave-their-country-and-even-enjoy-as-an-illegal-migran\/?relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2&amp;relatedposts_hit=1&amp;relatedposts_origin=36371&amp;relatedposts_position=2\">Governments and people around the world never know nor understand the basic reasons why many Myanmar Citizens of all races and religions wish to leave their country and even enjoy as an illegal migrants or unrecognised refugee&nbsp;seekers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7\/ All Myanmar citizens are migrants but they discriminate on Muslims and later migrants from Indian subcontinent and China. Read in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Early_history_of_Burma\">Early history of Burma<\/a>&nbsp;in Wikipedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8\/ Read here about the Muslims response on oppression by their rulers and obligation of Muslim rulers to accept them. Q\/A No 22. <a href=\"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/2025\/12\/01\/q-a-no-21-how-should-muslims-response-to-unjust-laws-of-muslim-or-non-muslim-rulers\/\">How should Muslims response to unjust laws of Muslim or non-Muslim rulers?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/category\/nation\/2026\/04\/23\/refugees-asylum-seekers-deserve-access-to-education-says-fadhlina\">Refugees, asylum seekers deserve access to education, says Fadhlina<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freemalaysiatoday.com\/category\/nation\/2026\/04\/25\/isolating-rohingya-may-deepen-social-risks-group-warns\">Isolating Rohingya may deepen social risks, group warns<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cartoon Chinese Immigrants 1880 NThe Tables Turned American Cartoon Suggesting What City Streets Might Look Like To Irish-Americans As A Result Of Increased Chinese Immigration Cartoon 1880. Rohingya, Migrants, and Our Selective Memory A Selangor assemblyman recently warned of a \u201cRohingya influx\u201d in Pandan Perdana as a public safety concern. Similar sentiments surfaced in Melaka, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,7,6,127,1,11,10,16,123,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-racism","category-articles","category-history","category-islam-hope-allah-swt","category-local-news","category-myanmar-muslims-history","category-news","category-opinion","category-story","category-world-muslims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5387"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5421,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5387\/revisions\/5421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}