Living in Oz, proud to be M’sian

I AM a Malaysian who has been living in Melbourne, Australia for over 13 years. I always come back to my hometown for vacations and to catch up with family and friends.

I still hold my Malaysian citizenship and passport, as I am still proud to call myself Malaysian.

When asked by people in Australia: Are you from China/Vietnam/Singapore, I always reply: No, no, no, I am MALAYSIAN!

Then they will say we are known for being able to speak different languages, like English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, etc.

From there, I will start to introduce all the good things about our country, like good multicultural food, different races living in harmony, beautiful places to explore, beaches, highlands, eco-tourism, etc.

But the proudest thing, for me, would be our different festivals and the open houses our royals and politicians hold throughout the country during public holidays, which we don’t get to experience in Australia.

Actually, one encounters more racism in Australia on a daily basis than in Malaysia.

The point I want to make is you will feel more Malaysian and treasure it when you live overseas for a few years or more. We are truly multicultural as you can find all races living in almost all corners of the country.

Some countries claim to be multicultural but the different races live in “enclaves”, e.g. in one suburb, you will only find mostly one race.

There are no official celebrations of different cultures or holidays except for Christmas.

Someday, I wish to bring more Australians to visit our country as most of them have not been here. They have only been to Bali!

Terima kasih.