The migration stories nobody wants to tell you

That Malaysia has been suffering from one of the region’s most severe cases of brain drain in the past decade is not a new revelation.

It’s important to note that Malaysia is not alone in facing this crisis; it is in fact a shared problem among all middle-income countries, where a growing segment of the population have become affluent and capable to consider better fortunes in other countries.

But in Malaysia, the outflow of talent is especially critical because of the fact that our nation is on the brink of growing to become a developed nation, and it cannot do so without the right talents fuelling this growth.

A World Bank report in 2011 revealed some telling signs of an increasingly large group of Malaysians who are choosing to work and live overseas, and what we know about them is that they are educated, middle-to-upper income wage earners, and in search of what they perceive as a better life.

From better pay, to a better quality of life, different reasons drive people from the comforts of familiarity, friends and family in the search of greener pastures. But is post-migration life really all that Malaysians make it out to be?

A few weeks ago, I came upon a book that hopes to address that question. The first thing that caught my attention was its title, “Migrating to Australia… good meh???”.

I first thought it was an anti-migrating book, targetted at shaming Malaysians who have left or want to leave.

But the book, written by brothers Ken and Michael Soong, is instead a personal collection of anecdotes and observations to tell the flipside to the rags-to-riches story that every new migrant dreams of.

Well-written and reading more like a personal narrative than an academic study, the book first comes across as a passionate plea by the authors for those thinking of migrating to Australia to think twice.

The Soong brothers themselves migrated to Australia more than 15 years ago, caught up in “the wave of migration fever”, as they put it in their book. But reality soon hit them, and they realised that life in Australia, just like any other country in the world, was not all rose-tinted.

“What we are doing is highlighting the downsides, from the perspective of an Asian migrant, which we so rarely hear about,” said Michael.

“(People) only tend to tell you the good news, more like trying to reassure themselves that their decisions made are the right ones,” he said in an email interview.

And so they decided to tell their story, about how Australia did not turn out to be the land of opportunity they had hoped for.

The book lists down the main reasons most Malaysians and Asians have for migrating to Australia – the education system, a system of equality, and a generally better quality of life in terms of work-life balance and safety.

It then proceeds to dismantle what the authors see as “myths” surrounding these celebrated tenets of Australian life.

Australia, they say, is not for everyone. Depending on your job and your expectations, life in Australia can range from one that is rosy and comfortable, to one where working odd-jobs is the only means to paying the bills.

While Michael said he has “taken our own advice” and has since relocated back to Malaysia, Ken is still living in Melbourne where he has “more realistic expectations about what Australia can and cannot offer to me and my family”.

“One thing I have learnt from this migration experience is that I should make the best of whatever I have, wherever I am at that particular moment.

“When I was in Malaysia, I failed to see many opportunities that were around me at that time.

“I was blinded by my own preconceived notion that there were more opportunities for growth in Australia than in Malaysia,” said Ken.

And thus was the motivation for the brothers to write this book, that they could encourage Malaysians who were in their shoes to take a step back and make a well-informed decision about migrating.

The book is also a great source of information for those who have already decided to migrate, as it contains useful information to better understand the Australian way of life, from an Asian perspective.

It also contains excerpt of experiences by other migrants, some success stories, some not so much.

“Please don't think that we are anti-West or anti-Australia. We are just anti-myths and anti-lies,” said Michael. 

“For me, nowhere in the world is the ultimate solution. There is no such utopia place that is the best place for everything.

“Some countries are good for something and other countries are good for some other things.”

The book is refreshing in that it reserves judgment on the decision to migrate or to stay, choosing instead to draw attention to the sometimes little-known facts about Australia as the perceived promised land.

That Australia is the 2^nd most popular country of destination for outbound Malaysians (the first being Singapore) also makes this book a relevant and timely read.

As Malaysians face tumultuous challenges in the road to nation-building, the book is a stark reminder that even when the situation at home appears dire, the grass on the other side may not always be greener. – May 31, 2015. 

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.