I tend to get messages from my mates back in Malaysia, telling me to stay back in Australia. Thinking it will be the freedom they're looking for. The truth is, no matter how beautiful, how great life can be, or how many strip clubs you can be enjoying, it's never the same. That's why I never can understand how some parents forcefully want their children to start a living in a new country, not knowing how different life can be over the other side. I've been living in Australia for a year or so and I can feel the difference. Yes, Australia might provide the comfortable life we all seek. In a way, Australia provide the social security that Malaysians yearn to have. You might have a higher income(somehow in a way, I don't get why Malaysians love to convert the money they earn into M'sian ringgit, considering that, in Oz, you earn Oz$, you spend Oz$), you might provide a better lifestyle for your future family, you might have a peace of mind when you retire and you might be able to live and learn a new culture.
Before I came to Australia, I always thought, Australia is a very multicultural country and there is no way I would lose my Malaysian-Chinese-ness. Sorry for tagging myself in a particular race though I have to admit I am more Malaysian than a Chinese and I am very proud of it. During the summer of 2010, I spent 2 months alone in Adelaide, working with a bunch of factory workers, which include 3 Australians, an Indian and loads of Filipinos. Don't get me wrong, the working experience was really great. Understandably, I hang out with a lot of non-Malaysians at the moment.
So, it was like 7am to 3pm and then, back home. Tea break, jogging and dinner, finally, to bed. I didn't really had a lifestyle during that 2 months. The same routine everyday. During that period, sadly, I never ever thought of my beloved Malaysia. The fact is, nothing in Australia really reminds me of the place I was born and bred. It's sad but it's true. For the first time ever, I never felt a single emotion for not celebrating the lunar new year with my family. I just stayed at home and surf the internet. During that period, I didn't speak much of my so called Malaysian accent.
Of course, I met a bunch of new friends and boy did my Malaysian accent came into action. I guess my point is, living and working in Australia might be interesting to people from the outside. Everyday when you flip open the newspaper, you do see pictures of the "boat-people", asylum seekers and refugees waiting for an answer to their prayers. One of the seekers even claim that he rather die in the boat to Australia than to go back to Sri Lanka. Imagine that and you'll realised how insignificant our complaints and whining back home. Like the saying goes, the grass is always greener at the other side. I guess being a offspring of an immigrant, like a lot of Malaysians are, we tend to think life overseas is somewhat better. In some sense, yes, it's statistically true.
To make things easier, think about this. One of my mates, Don, like me, he's of Chinese descent and he's born a Singaporean. He followed his father to Australia when he was two and has been living here ever since. Of course, he speaks with an Aussie accent but think about it, he lost the opportunity to learn to speak mandarin. I believe he would live here for the rest of his life and have children too. One day, his descendants will not have any idea that their forefather is actually a singaporean, rather than a Chinese. If I would to live here, my kids will be Australians, speaking with an Aussie accent. Living an Australian lifestyle and not having the opportunity to live the life I had. It would be such a pity to not able to see what I've seen in Malaysia.
It's true when people say Malaysia is not the same. In fact, you can travel the world and not find a country similar to my beloved homecountry. I stopped saying that I don't want to return to Malaysia. Why wouldn't I want to return to Malaysia? It's a beautiful place and everyone I know is there. I always believe my career will bring me to places I never thought I would end up in. Think about the path I took and I realised, God, I've been to places I myself find weird and unusual. For now, I think it's best for all of us to just concentrating in studying for the next few years. Until then, life can always be unpredictable. Isn't it?
post-script: we're malaysians, not chinese. Cina balik china, I malaysian, so I can stay lah.
Still very much a Malaysian,
红毛仔
~listening to We the king's she takes me high~
