Who is the 阿灿 (Ah Chan) now?

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I remember in the 80s or even early 90s, there were many Hong Kong series or movies that made joke of the Mainland Chinese. On top of my mind is the movie called “花花公子” (or Playboy) played by Chow Yun-Fatt and Anita Mui. The Mainland Chinese were rudely referred to as “Ah Chan”. In those movies or series, the Chinese people were usually depicted as stupid, off-fashion, square minded and dirty.

During the 80s and early 90s, apart from portraying the negative image of the Mainland Chinese, the Hong Kong movie and series also frequently touched on the fear of “97” i.e., the return of Hong Kong to the Mainland. Everyone was talking about migrating to avoid falling into the hands of the Communist Government. Almost everyone was crazily saving money for migration. On top of my mind is the movie called “富贵逼人”. Hong Kong people saw no hope after 1997, only a few were optimistic about the future of Hong Kong after she was taken back by Mainland China. It was as if Hong Kong would sink on 1st July 1997.

In the 80s and early 90s, a few would have thought that China will be the future, especially after the Tiananmen incident in 1989.

This phenomenon was not only found in Hong Kong, Malaysia too has the similar feelings towards Mainland Chinese, even until now. When we saw a man from China in Malaysia, we immediately thought that he must be a con man; when we saw a lady from China, she must be a prostitute or “Little Dragon Girl”. Allow me to digress a little. Once, I witnessed that a lady from China selling DVDs to a group of Malaysian Chinese men who were enjoying their Bak Kut Teh. This group of men obviously has no intention to buy the DVDs but since the Chinese lady looked “ok”, they decided to “spend some time” with her. They made fun of her, some even bordering on sexual harassment. One guy said, “Your DVDs defective or not? Can be played? Or can only be played by made-in-China DVD players?” The group burst into laughter. The Chinese lady coldly replied, “at least China manufactures DVD players… You Malaysians don’t even have Malaysian brand DVD players.” The guys continued laughing but her point was taken.

Against the above background, let’s see our Malaysia in the 80s and early 90s. Malaysia was one of the 4 tigers in ASEAN. In the early 90s, Malaysia’s economy was booming. Everyone was making money, particularly through the stock market. There were so many things we wanted to build, KLCC, Airport, MSC etc (later, all these became magnificent white elephants). Those were the glorious days of Malaysia. The people were thinking that Vision 2020 was well within our reach, or we may even achieve developed state sooner than 2020. Let’s be frank, 2020 is just another 13 years away. Do you see Malaysia leaps into the club of developed states in 13 years time? Well, judging from what happened to Selangor in 2005 (Selangor is already a “developed state” since 2005 based on the criteria imagined by our Menteri Besar), I am quite sure the government will declare that Malaysia is already a developed state in 2020, despite the rest of the world not recognizing it, as long as we still have roads, hospitals, schools, commercial buildings, residential areas, “independent” judiciary and a so called “democratic system” then. Or you think that the Malaysian government will eat the humble pie, face the truth and announce to the people that we have failed the Vision 2020? You want to bet? Since we are on that topic, can someone tell me whether the Vision 2020 thingy is still on, since it was the brainchild of the old man?

Now, back to our original topic. I could tell you the different image between Shanghai and KL. I could also tell you the way Shanghai people live. But, instead of talking about my own observation or my opinion based on my own perspective which could be bias and inaccurate, let’s talk numbers.

From 2003 to 2006, Malaysia real GDP growth floated between 5% and 6.8%. Of course, our mainstream media will tell us that were good enough. After all, we were not looking at negative growth, right? Let’s see what happened to China’s GDP growth. From 2003 to 2006, China’s real GDP growth was continuously in double digit i.e. from 10% to 11.1%. It was an economic miracle that the world has never seen.

In 2006, Malaysia’s export of goods was USD160,814 million; while China’s was almost 8 times larger at USD1,212 billion. In 2006, Malaysia’s GDP at market price was USD572.6 billion; while China’s was almost 40 times larger at USD22,049.8 billion.

Now, who is the Ah Chan?

p/s:-

Hi Vincenzo, nice to see you again. Thanks for the good comment. Hope you could share with us more on your thoughts.

Hi Hong Seek, what a pleasant surprise to see you here. Your comment could already be made into a blog : ) Thanks for sharing your idea with us. Hope to see you more often here.

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