Salleh: Grass not always greener on the other side

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians who constantly grumble about the country are reminded that the "grass is not always greener on the other side".

Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said Malaysians are falling into the trap of constantly grumbling about the country, even when the Government has done good.

"Some Malaysians complain so much about their country but foreigners who come to Malaysia tend to agree that our country is paradise," the Communications and Multimedia Minister said in a blog post on Friday (Nov 17).

"Some Malaysians say 'the grass always looks greener on the other side' when they travel overseas and compare other countries to Malaysia.

"But it is not necessarily true. Take note of problems of racism and intolerance being higher in countries considered more liberal and advanced than Malaysia.

"Muslim women wearing hijabs in European countries like England, France and Netherlands have to deal with the fear of being discriminated, assaulted or attacked," he said.

Salleh said some Malaysians look to one single aspect just to condemn the country.

"For example, the rise in the price of petrol. But do some Malaysians say the same thing when the price of petrol goes down?

"Do we have millions of homeless people sleeping on the streets like in developed countries? We need to look at Malaysia as a whole and not pick one item every day to grumble.

"Please be aware that this is the classic anti-establishment strategy of creating dissatisfaction. We need to be rational and this means credit should be given when it's due.

"It is time to move forward to help build a better nation," he said.