John Malachi
The Malaysian Insider
May 25, 2011

MAY 25 — I am a Malaysian living abroad. I graduated as a doctor in Australia and went back to Malaysia in the early 1990s. From the first day I started working in Malaysia until the day I left, I have worked all the 15 and a half years of my time in Malaysia in public hospitals, not a single day in private practice.

In the mean time I got married and have two beautiful children. I went through the system, however unfair it was, being posted to hospitals that no one wanted to go to, and being sent on a merry-go-round around the country with two kids and a wife in tow.

I have had many opportunities to leave the public health sector to go into private practice – I was even offered a consultant specialist job in Singapore, but I hung on to the government hospitals, willingly foregoing better opportunity and financial rewards. Read the rest of this entry »

By Alan Roy | May 24, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 24 — Twenty-two years ago, I set out for Australia with my wife and three young kids in tow, braving an unknown future but confident that life would be fine in my adopted country.

Equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws protect every new immigrant. Social security and educational benefits help the disadvantaged. You turn on the tap, the water runs. You flip the switch, the power comes on. Above all, good governance, honesty, courtesy and civic-mindedness are striking qualities that contribute to the enviable Australian quality of life.
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Letter
by Gemilang
24.5.11

Dear Fellow Malaysians:

I am compelled to write to you regarding Talent Corp. road tour in the U.S. I have just attended one of their events at Marriott, Santa Clara. Let me tell you, the turn out was good. I believe there about 200 Malaysians living in the Bay Area attended this event hoping to hear what they have to offer.

It is not surprising that the event was such a let down. Talent Corp. sent amateurs to speak on behalf of Johan Merican where no where to be found. The speaker was a young kid, Hidayat who was very proud to tell the audience that there is nothing wrong with Malaysian education, because he graduated from MIT. Let me share with you that this kid was so naive, speaks poor English, have no business acumen, lack of respects for Malaysian professionals, and lack of understanding of American business etiquette.

For someone who claimed to be MIT graduate and used to work overseas as consultants — he definitely did not have the MIT qualities. He forgot that he just spent his few years completing his undergraduate degree here in the US, but have never been living and working for many years in America. The reason I pointed out this, is that it makes huge differences in life experiences. As an alumni of MIT does not mean that he is fits to talk down on professionals like us here in the Bay Area. Read the rest of this entry »

GLB
The Malaysian Insider
May 20, 2011

MAY 20 — I am an east Malaysian living abroad. Some 25 years ago, I left for my studies but not on any funding or scholarship. I remember it well… I was young and ambitious but somehow it was a tough financial situation for my parents.

To cut a long story short, with a bit of luck and contributions from farsighted individuals I landed in San Francisco with US$4,000 to my name. Big money back then.

But the 4K was barely enough for a semester’s tuition fee, room and board in a university in a major American city. Foolishly — yes, that’s the word — with a feeling of desperation and uncertainty plus a whole big unknown future in front of me I went ahead to try my best with what I had. A university admission letter.

Today, I say “wow” — how did I do that? I recall working three jobs in between classes to make ends meet; get home from night shifts after midnight every day and very often hungry. I asked myself — am I here to work to pay rent or to get that degree? Read the rest of this entry »

By B. Venugopal | May 20, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 20 — I would like to provide some feedback on the reasons I left the motherland and headed for greener pastures here in Australia. First and foremost is the biased and preferential treatment given to Malays ahead of other races in the country.

As a country that has been independent for 50 years and more, it is disgraceful that the government condones open racist practices through the lack of meritocracy in the universities, the lack of opportunities for non-Malays working in government agencies and if they do work in the government there is a quota system used for promotion to the highest level.
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By Henry T. | May 20, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 20 — I am a Malaysian Chinese and please notice that I did not mention Chinese Malaysian as I feel that one should be a Malaysian first and a Chinese second. I love Malaysia and as a kid I had wonderful memories growing up in Penang. When I was 19, I went to Singapore for my university education as my Bahasa grade was not good enough to qualify for local university entrance.
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By A Bumi | May 19, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 19 — I am a Malay working overseas. I find working in Malaysia unattractive due to the following reasons. I don’t want to belabour the points, so I list them down in point form:

Chinese chauvinism/racism

• Most private organisations including TMI are dominated by the Chinese and/or their political agenda.

• Chinese people have a tendency to assign negative stereotypes on other races (especially the Bumiputera races).
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By Kaycee | May 19, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 19 — In 1962 I left for Sydney to further my studies and returned in 1968 where I obtained my first middle management position as night manager of the Hotel Merlin Kuala Lumpur until the political turmoil in 1969 which I witnessed with much sadness.

After the riots, I left for Herefordshire in the UK and attended a hotel catering management course there and returned to a position at the Kartika Plaza Hotel, Jakarta in 1972. Subsequently after my sojourn in Jakarta I returned to Batu Ferringhi, Penang and was a pioneer management staff of the Casuarina Beach Hotel, running its entire food/beverage operations there.
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The Malaysian Insider | We asked readers to tell us why they migrated… or are even thinking of migrating. This is one of the stories.

MAY 19 — I would like to tell you first-hand why I am thinking of migrating in the future:

The salary base of Malaysian employees are low.

I am a trainee for a foreign bank and urban poor as I earn less than RM3,000 a month; compared to my counterparts who are currently working overseas (merely as a waiter/ barista), their weekly salary is equivalent to what I earn in a month.

The living cost is getting higher.
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Setec
The Malaysian Insider
May 18, 2011

MAY 18 — My primary reasons are different from that of most migrants from Malaysia:

1) English as the first language — I believe English is the language for all; I do not believe in multi-lingualism, e.g. learning Chinese, Tamil, etc.

I think this idea is not anti-nationalistic. For example, English is the first language in non Caucasian-majority countries like Singapore, Zimbabwe, etc.

2) One schooling system — a good majority of people in Malaysia are racists by supporting vernacular and religious schools. Chinese go to Chinese schools, Indians attend Tamil schools, Malays get education at religious schools, and the rest end up in government national schools.

I’m a product of government national schools; however, I’d only support government national schools if all lessons are in English (pre 1971). Read the rest of this entry »