Malaysian’s Abroad
That is me in 1997. I was a Mechanical Engineering freshman at Northeastern University, Boston Massachusettes, USA. Staring at my huge but proudly owned Intel® Pentium® Processor 266 MHz desktop with my always useful Texas Instrument T83 calculator, some serious books, and yes, a copy of Starcraft. Those were some geek-fest all-nighters back in the days. Amazing times. Poor but amazing.
Time of our lives
Living abroad (living or studying) is something a lot of young Malaysians dream of! Dreaming is great but once they actually live out their dreams….a lot of Malaysians don’t seem to make the most out of it! What do I mean?…well…the journey overseas is more than just about an education or work experience! it should be about a life experience that will hopefully make you more independent, experienced, and “worldly” (dunno if that’s actually a word).
What should you do when you’re overseas?
- Try not to cling to your Malaysian friends all the time…make new friends.
- Get a foreign boy/girlfriend…again that’ll help with embracing the culture and language.
- Get a job (illegally if you have to .. ops)..that’ll help in making friends, etc.
- Studying is not everything….embrace your social life without losing your roots lah.
- Try to be financially independent (that’s for you F.A.M.A beneficiaries).
- Try to step out of your comfort levels. By experiencing new situations, you’ll be able to further develop your soft-skills, etc.
Most Importantly … Come back! hahaha …. make sure you come back and help bring Malaysia forward! 😉
aiyohh!!! terasa laa… i’m F.A.M.A! but financially independent juge… getting a job soon. it’s crazy here in sydney. working as a cashier, i’d get AU$18 per hour or as a babysitter would be fun too! my australian housemate and i are like this!!! **crossing 2nd and 3rd fingers together**. it’s true, dat u’ll learn heaps when u hang out with the foreigners. but i dunno, a lot of international students are trying to get PR laa, citizenship laa, but i’m not at all interested. i know it could be somehow beneficial in a long run. but c’mon laaa… i could understand if the china chinese, india indian, or bangladeshi yang apply for PR and stuffs because their countries are either over-populated or their pasports have not much value; but i dun quite understand rakyat malaysia is like stressing out and dying to get PR in Australia. apa dah jadi ni? kot lah malaysia is like China, their foods are injected with hormones to make it grow 4 times faster to feed the people. the apple is dry, tasteless and doesn’t taste like apple anymore. kot lah malaysia macam tu. not even halfway there, kan? of course, australia for instance has much better transportation system, education system, environment-friendly culture – wutever, but i always think that it is better to stay here, watch and learn, and go back to malaysia and try to implement the positive value, instead of trying to move over here all together. =) funny, but i guess, no matter how fun it is here, Malaysia is always close at heart (alhamdulillah), and i’ll go back once i graduate. no offence given, none taken. cheers!
aiyohh!!! terasa laa… i’m F.A.M.A! but financially independent juge… getting a job soon. it’s crazy here in sydney. working as a cashier, i’d get AU$18 per hour or as a babysitter would be fun too! my australian housemate and i are like this!!! **crossing 2nd and 3rd fingers together**. it’s true, dat u’ll learn heaps when u hang out with the foreigners. but i dunno, a lot of international students are trying to get PR laa, citizenship laa, but i’m not at all interested. i know it could be somehow beneficial in a long run. but c’mon laaa… i could understand if the china chinese, india indian, or bangladeshi yang apply for PR and stuffs because their countries are either over-populated or their pasports have not much value; but i dun quite understand rakyat malaysia is like stressing out and dying to get PR in Australia. apa dah jadi ni? kot lah malaysia is like China, their foods are injected with hormones to make it grow 4 times faster to feed the people. the apple is dry, tasteless and doesn’t taste like apple anymore. kot lah malaysia macam tu. not even halfway there, kan? of course, australia for instance has much better transportation system, education system, environment-friendly culture – wutever, but i always think that it is better to stay here, watch and learn, and go back to malaysia and try to implement the positive value, instead of trying to move over here all together. =) funny, but i guess, no matter how fun it is here, Malaysia is always close at heart (alhamdulillah), and i’ll go back once i graduate. no offence given, none taken. cheers!
yeah good point jena!Malaysia is the land of opportunity lah. There’s so much you can still do here. So yeah, if you are overseas and see something that they do very well over there (what ever it may be)…than bring that idea back to Malaysia and capitalize. Sortof what I did with Maxtrition (although small but a good start).
yeah good point jena!
Malaysia is the land of opportunity lah. There’s so much you can still do here. So yeah, if you are overseas and see something that they do very well over there (what ever it may be)…than bring that idea back to Malaysia and capitalize. Sortof what I did with Maxtrition (although small but a good start).
waaa… kevin’s blog really inspired me la…
waaa… kevin’s blog really inspired me la…
I like #8 the best. I’ve been living overseas for 15 years (since my birth) and now I am back!!! I love Malaysia, I don’t understand why a lot of people are immigrating to the West. Ok, perhaps they want more money, better job, Westernized lifestyle… BUT DO COME BACK!Cool blog, by the way.
I like #8 the best. I’ve been living overseas for 15 years (since my birth) and now I am back!!! I love Malaysia, I don’t understand why a lot of people are immigrating to the West. Ok, perhaps they want more money, better job, Westernized lifestyle… BUT DO COME BACK!
Cool blog, by the way.
Heh. I’m currently in the UK, and am counting down the days to go back home!! (phew.. 24 more days to go.. yeay!).. And I just can’t understand why some Malaysian insist on migrating to other countries. Well, I’ve been told by some that they are not satisifed with our current government system, and the benefits offered. For example, the education system(hey.. I heard it’s FOC in Germany right? Please correct me if I’m wrong) and health costs. Not forgetting higher wages & lower standard of living as they claim it to be. Hmm.. to me, it doesn’t make sense at all because they are just simply converting their wages into Malaysian currency. Of course la mahal. Same goes for the price of goods. I think they have forgotten to take the exchange rate into account la. Huhu.. I can go on and on blabbering about Economics concept, but I better not. This is not your blog, Irma!(excuse me, just reminding myself before I get carried away 😛 ). Anyway, bak kata pepatah Melayu, “hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri.. baik lagi di negeri sendiri..” Ye tak? 😀 No matter how many miles I’m away from home, my heart is still in Malaysia.. with my loved ones. Even if they were to be here with me, I know I’ll surely miss our sunny weather & late night teh tarik outing. There’s just something very calming to be surrounded with things that you’re familiar with. Isn’t it ironic how we(well at least some of us here) learn to appreciate our country more when we’re abroad?
Heh. I’m currently in the UK, and am counting down the days to go back home!! (phew.. 24 more days to go.. yeay!).. And I just can’t understand why some Malaysian insist on migrating to other countries. Well, I’ve been told by some that they are not satisifed with our current government system, and the benefits offered. For example, the education system(hey.. I heard it’s FOC in Germany right? Please correct me if I’m wrong) and health costs. Not forgetting higher wages & lower standard of living as they claim it to be. Hmm.. to me, it doesn’t make sense at all because they are just simply converting their wages into Malaysian currency. Of course la mahal. Same goes for the price of goods. I think they have forgotten to take the exchange rate into account la. Huhu.. I can go on and on blabbering about Economics concept, but I better not. This is not your blog, Irma!(excuse me, just reminding myself before I get carried away 😛 ). Anyway, bak kata pepatah Melayu, “hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri.. baik lagi di negeri sendiri..” Ye tak? 😀 No matter how many miles I’m away from home, my heart is still in Malaysia.. with my loved ones. Even if they were to be here with me, I know I’ll surely miss our sunny weather & late night teh tarik outing. There’s just something very calming to be surrounded with things that you’re familiar with. Isn’t it ironic how we(well at least some of us here) learn to appreciate our country more when we’re abroad?
weh,aku dok newzealand,and aku sentiasa nak balik..tak penah rase nak dok cn..apetah lagi nak apply pr k watsoever..huh!and one more..getting a foreign bf/gf utk dapatkan peengalaman or ape2 la, is completely unacceptabble (for me of course)..diorg nye culture is completely different dan melanggar batas2 islam..so,no way dude!heh
weh,aku dok newzealand,and aku sentiasa nak balik..tak penah rase nak dok cn..apetah lagi nak apply pr k watsoever..huh!and one more..getting a foreign bf/gf utk dapatkan peengalaman or ape2 la, is completely unacceptabble (for me of course)..diorg nye culture is completely different dan melanggar batas2 islam..so,no way dude!heh
its fun being in melbourne, its fun being back home. but if i had to choose one or the other, how can i resist our mamaks huh? kat kl balik clubbing lapar, what do u do? go to a mamak. kat sini balik clubbing n lapar, what do u do? balik rumah masak maggi ah :). although i do HATE it that the moment i step out of the klia arrivals terminals, i get the whistles and looks and the ‘hi cik adiks’. but what to do kan, home is always home and there is no better place than Malaysia.
its fun being in melbourne, its fun being back home. but if i had to choose one or the other, how can i resist our mamaks huh? kat kl balik clubbing lapar, what do u do? go to a mamak. kat sini balik clubbing n lapar, what do u do? balik rumah masak maggi ah :). although i do HATE it that the moment i step out of the klia arrivals terminals, i get the whistles and looks and the ‘hi cik adiks’. but what to do kan, home is always home and there is no better place than Malaysia.
I agree with your point Kevin. I lived in australia for 8yrs (5yrs study & 3 yrs working professionally) and most of the time i try to mingle with the Aussies and learn thier language (english dia pekat giler) and thier culture. Obviously we learn the +ve stuffs and ingore the -ve onces. If we only click with our own kind overseas we are at lost because we will do that once we return home. so marilah beramai ramai kita join the mat salleh…yey!
I agree with your point Kevin. I lived in australia for 8yrs (5yrs study & 3 yrs working professionally) and most of the time i try to mingle with the Aussies and learn thier language (english dia pekat giler) and thier culture. Obviously we learn the +ve stuffs and ingore the -ve onces. If we only click with our own kind overseas we are at lost because we will do that once we return home. so marilah beramai ramai kita join the mat salleh…yey!
I am thinking of berhijrah ke Eropah or Australia but I have old parents and a spastic brother. Kenapa sumer org macam tak seronok dok oversea? Mana2 pun cam sama jek…
I am thinking of berhijrah ke Eropah or Australia but I have old parents and a spastic brother. Kenapa sumer org macam tak seronok dok oversea? Mana2 pun cam sama jek…
Oh Holy God.. i guess kan why ramai M’sians tak ske dok overseas becos’ of Agama punya sentiment. as a non-Muslim, I bermati2an berangan nak dok overseas, makan takpe, I’m an Anglican Christian. so should be no problem for me. Now I rasa nak gila2 nak amik IELTS lah, nak suruh husband apply keje overseas tp tatau caranya. Lebih2 lagi we’re all from M’sia yang non-english speaking punya background. I nak try dok kat either OZ or NZ. I dah boring dok M’sia.
Oh Holy God.. i guess kan why ramai M’sians tak ske dok overseas becos’ of Agama punya sentiment. as a non-Muslim, I bermati2an berangan nak dok overseas, makan takpe, I’m an Anglican Christian. so should be no problem for me. Now I rasa nak gila2 nak amik IELTS lah, nak suruh husband apply keje overseas tp tatau caranya. Lebih2 lagi we’re all from M’sia yang non-english speaking punya background. I nak try dok kat either OZ or NZ. I dah boring dok M’sia.
Oh, my comment from 3 years back is still here rupanya. Hahaha. It’s funny to read the comment I wrote from 3 years back… LOL. Well, anyway.. now that I’m back in Malaysia, I no longer miss the teh tarik outings. (In fact, I think I should cut down on my teh tarik intake now.. Dah terlebih2 lak. Oops.. :)). But regarding the sunny weather… ? Hmm.. haiyaa.. ni bukan sunny lagi dah. Tapi scorching hot! LOL. But still, Malaysia is my home. This is where my heart is 🙂
One Malaysia, One Love!
Proud to be Malaysian.
Oh, my comment from 3 years back is still here rupanya. Hahaha. It’s funny to read the comment I wrote from 3 years back… LOL. Well, anyway.. now that I’m back in Malaysia, I no longer miss the teh tarik outings. (In fact, I think I should cut down on my teh tarik intake now.. Dah terlebih2 lak. Oops.. :)). But regarding the sunny weather… ? Hmm.. haiyaa.. ni bukan sunny lagi dah. Tapi scorching hot! LOL. But still, Malaysia is my home. This is where my heart is 🙂
One Malaysia, One Love!
Proud to be Malaysian.