非花

Let me tell you an anecdote. I used to work in a Singaporean company who was run by a Cantonese guy from Guangdong. He used to fill his staff with either Malaysian Chinese or Mainlanders since they are willing to work hard, more hours, and with dedication. One day we had a Chinese looking recruit, yet he can't speak Chinese at all. Turned out he's one of these Northeasterner from Arunachal. On the off times during break, he liked to relate his story on how he had to move away from his home because it was purposely underdeveloped, the roads in his village is not paved until now so as to hinder the movements of PLA tanks, etc etc. He blamed the poor state of his home due to Chinese military pressure and presence in the border. One of our mainlander colleague then asked him "So why not seek work with Indian companies? Surely they sympathize with your plight?" - and he struggled to answer. He came up with several responses but one that stuck with me was "the Indians never saw us as one of their own". Now, I am no party to this "struggle", but I do pity these Northeasterners; even after all that mistreatment by the Indian government they are generally still loyal to them. And yet they are disappointed again and again, and in abroad or exile, usually it's people who "look like them", ie, Chinese or other SEA folk, that provided them shelter & employment. Keep this up, and India may well face another separatism movement by the next decade.