MAY 25 — I often get asked by fresh graduates whether they should stay in Malaysia or build their careers overseas.

“It depends,” I tell them.

If you’re seeking a career in journalism or public relations, you would be better off staying in Malaysia. Both these fields are very much saturated in developed countries with heavy competition even for non-paying internships. Why should they pick a Malaysian over hundreds of local aspiring journalists or public relations specialists? I’ve met Australian journalism grads pursuing graduate degrees and doctorates simply because they find it hard to get entry-level journalism jobs.

Foreign newswires have presences here; you would have a better chance of working for Reuters in Malaysia than by applying in a foreign country. There are also plenty of international public relations firms here that will give you plenty of opportunities for advancement. Take my ex-colleague David Lian who is now the Asia Pacific social media lead for global PR firm Text 100. Besides Text 100, Hill & Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller, Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy and Edelman are among the reputable firms with strong presences in Malaysia.

I find the notion that the government is duty-bound to provide all the top scorers with scholarships repugnant. In the UK and US, student loans are a part and parcel of life — even the current president of the United States admitted to only having recently paid off his college loan debts.

Rather than expecting the government to foot the bill for all top scorers to study overseas, more institutions should provide grants, loans and partial scholarships for students wishing to further their education. The private sector needs to support local institutions and help better the quality of public education, making it accessible for all.

Why can’t insurance firms, for example, provide grants or partially sponsor actuarial departments in public universities? Have banks, law firms, MNCs work with public universities to create programmes or pump in much needed investment.

Racism is a problem in our country and the polarisation between the races is something we need to address. Affirmative action in this country is a joke where instead of the poor benefitting, instead it is the rich elite of all races getting richer. It is time the citizens point out to politicians that while they are well-fed and live in palatial residences (I’m looking at you, Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo), there are plenty of Malaysians earning less than RM1,000 a month.

If you want to fix things in this country, then stay. The reality is that the changes you want to see will likely not happen in this lifetime. Your children might not benefit from the education or institutional reforms you fight for, but their children might.

Some people get frustrated that so few — the idealists, the visionaries, the crusaders — are fighting for so many. But hasn’t that always been the case? It is possible to make small inroads, effect small changes but patience and willingness to commit for the long haul is needed.

If you told me 10 years ago, we would have an alternative press and not just a media that basically functions as government propaganda, I would have laughed. If you told me Selangor would be an Opposition state, I would have laughed even harder.

I wish PKR had a bigger vision than just to “topple Barisan Nasional.” Let’s face it, plenty in PKR’s ranks are the same fat cat, greedy politicians we’re used to. We have politicians but we do not have statesmen — people in it for the country and not for themselves.

Change is hard work, without glory or guaranteed reward. Malaysians, however, have become a spoiled lot, too used to a caretaker government that tells them how to think, what to think and who to believe. We cannot wait on the government because it has become obvious that most of those in power do not have the nation’s interests at heart but the monetary interests of a chosen few.

I am tired of citizens expecting much but refusing to give much in return. You complain about racism, but send your children to vernacular schools. You call yourself Malaysian but refuse to even learn to speak Bahasa Malaysia. You complain about corruption and government inaction, but complain about traffic jams when your fellow citizens march to protest the very things you too abhor.

Some of you might sneer at me, saying I say all these things because I have neither the money nor the talent to go overseas. That’s right, I don’t. I make no pretensions about that. So I play my role the best that I can — as someone whose vocation lies in writing about things that matter for the people who matter: you.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.