Thursday July 5, 2007
Home beckons
By TENG POH SI
NOW that you’ve graduated, are you going home? Will you do journalism in Malaysia? These two questions crept up several times during graduation week in May. And every time someone asked, I felt like pulling my hair out.
My mother wanted to know. My professors at San Francisco State University and journalism mentors, who taught me to seek truth, do no harm and protect my sources at all costs, wanted to know. I wanted to know.
But there was no easy answer because while I loved Malaysia very much, I also loved the freedom and opportunities in the United States.
When Americans ask why I came to the “Land of the Free,” I always say it was for the First Amendment in the US Constitution, which guards and enshrines free speech and expression.
All journalists know it’s no fun having Big Brother tell you what you can and cannot report.
While in the United States, I wrote about the Ecstasy culture among hip-hoppers in the San Francisco Bay Area. I also had the opportunity to document a speed addict who used acupuncture to treat his addiction, and two lesbians who connected with each other at a gay rodeo.
 |
Teng Poh Si |
And so in June 2005, my friend Ng Khai Lee and I founded theCICAK, a political and pop culture magazine. It is staffed by young Malaysians who want a more democratic, transparent and inclusive country. There is nothing too controversial for theCICAK, and we would like to keep it this way.
We now have a growing network of journalists, social entrepreneurs, web programmers, economists and law students who are willing to work together for a collective benefit – a better Malaysia.
These aren’t folks who only rant. They walk the talk and make a difference, either through their line of work or through side-projects such as creating opportunities for local musicians and pressing their peers to register to vote.
It’s an exciting time to be Malaysian. And I really want to come home. But I can’t just yet, due to commitments and promises made abroad. But one thing is for sure – I’ll never stop being Malaysian.
RSS
