By Mohsin Abdullah

Every time Malaysians learn of "fellow Malaysians" doing good elsewhere in the world, we would show our joy openly and say out loud how proud and happy we are.

In Malay this is called "tumpang gembira", i.e. we feel happy for our "fellow Malaysians" for their achievements and we share the happiness.

If you're wondering why I put "fellow Malaysians" in inverted commas, it's because most times the people concerned are not Malaysians anymore.

Yes, they were born in this country of ours but have now taken up citizenship of other countries. Hence, I feel it's not right to refer to them as Malaysians.

Nevertheless, as said earlier, we are proud and happy when they achieve great success in their newly adopted countries.

And almost instantly we would be asking the same questions over and over again. Would they be where they are had they not migrated? Why wasn't their talent spotted by us here? And we conclude by saying that our loss is another country's gain. Indeed it is!

The latest "fellow Malaysian" to be accorded accolades is Jocelyn Yow.

At 25 years old, she made history by becoming the youngest mayor in the US. She is, as we know, elected mayor of Eastvale in Riverside County, California.

And how excited we are the moment we learned "she's got Malaysian blood". Rightly so. This is a big deal. No easy feat for a woman of color to be elected mayor, especially at a time when Black Lives Matter and racism are becoming a major issue in the US.

Also the proud proclamation by the country's founding fathers that America is the land of opportunity is being strongly questioned while saying chasing the American dream is not possible anymore.

Anyway, Yow's mother is a Vietnamese. Never mind that. As far as we are concerned, her father is a Malaysian. Chinese, obviously, but there's Malaysian heritage and that's reason enough to feel proud and happy.

Even people who are obsessed with calling fellow Malaysians "pendatang" and "bangsa asing" are joining in and "tumpang gembira".

Which brings me to a Facebook post written in Malay by a Malay who goes by the name Muhammad Najib (no, not that Najib).

The gentleman started by pointing out the pride showed by "many of us" following Yow's achievement. Some, he said, are proud or "tumpang bangga" because Yow is a young woman who gave birth to her child only six months ago.

Others, he said, are proud as Yow is of Malaysian heritage although "only half as her mother is Vietnamese and father Malaysian".

But said Muhammad Najib, "We can only be proud – that's all – for it's America which has her as mayor. The people of Eastvale voted her as they believed in her policies and ideas."

He went on to say, in reality, do not hope for that to happen in Malaysia.

"A 25-year-old Chinese woman who wants to be mayor will have to first join the civil service on Grade 41, get promoted for years and maybe after reaching 50 years old or older, before she can be mayor."

But this is not taking into account that Yow, being the daughter of a Chinese Malaysian and immigrant Vietnamese, will get the "recognition of being a pendatang", said Muhammad Najib.

He said, in Malaysia local government elections were abolished since 1965.

If I may add, local government elections were "actually' suspended following the Malaysia- Indonesia confrontation in 1964. The suspension was never lifted!

Back to Muhammad Najib. He said with no local government elections, "we do not have the power to vote the mayors that we want. We are left with mayors from among civil servants about to retire."

Hence, he said, "You live in a city where the drains are clogged, traffic congested, conditions dirty and recreational parks "raped" by developers. You cannot do anything to get rid of the mayor who is happy playing golf every weekend.

"You can have ten Jocelyn Yows, but you still cannot vote her as mayor. That's the reality in Malaysia."

Well put, Encik Muhammad Najib. I take my songkok off to you!

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)