September 27, 2004 - 16:15
Today I'm doing my work at home aje as it's my turn to come back early. Since this morning pi kedai K Sherry *one of the veterans here* to settle some business...cecewaaahhh...business plak dah...heh. I sort of label her as a veteran is not because she's old but she's been living here for almost 20 years. Ada 3 sons and also dah ada PR kat sini.Her hubby is an accountant kat sini which is very the laku lah kalau kat London area ni coz it's the business spot kan.But, sadly, she's going back for good end of this year. But then, it's good that they're finally going back and serve our country pulak...menyahut seruan kerajaan la kan.She's got a shipping and also kuih muih frozen business here. Lumayan jugalah...beli rumah cash kat Malaya tu.
Actually, the planning of settling down in Malaysia has been postponed a few times already...dah 3yrs thinking of settling down but then they're not confident that they're going to survive in Malaysia. You see, for people who haven't got a clue why ramai Malaysians esp the professionals tak balik2 to serve our country, let me brief you a bit. Of course, the standard of living is one of the highest in the world, but here life is a less pressure in terms of the lifestyle and the monetary compared to our country. I'm talking about those yg keje kat sini not yg come here to study lah.Let's say, a graduate here should be able to earn around £2K per month which is also a similar amount in terms of the figure in Malaysia.Cuma our money is in RM. Tapi with 2K per month, you dah boleh hidup mewah2.For example, groceries are very cheap over here. A lot of things you can just get below £1.If you go to a market with only £10, you'll get a lot of things. But, with RM10 in Malaysia, nowadays, what can you get?Even chocolates pun dah nearly RM10.Infant formula just costs £5-£6 je whereas in Malaya...berpuluh2 RM for only 1kg.And then, in terms of necessity such as car or house property. Mcm K Sherry, although she owns a business, she doesn't really lead such a posh lifestyle even if she can afford it. Kereta pun just a second hand Lucida which cost £5K. Mcm dia, dah boleh beli cash, takyah pikir hutang2 dah. Tapi mcm kita di Malaysia, banyak duit di spend sbb dok bayaq instalment every month.kereta lah, rumah lah, etc.Itu if the income figure is 2K lah.
Another thing is the pressure in terms of the org2 keliling pinggang. Kat sini, you manager ke apa ke, pakai kereta buruk pun org tak kisah. Tapi in Malaysia, kalau high level sikit kerja tapi pakai kereta buruk ke apa, of course people will label the person as kedekut la apa la.True kan?I'm sure some of us have experienced this kind of attitudes among our people to some extent. But, somehow it does influence the way we live whether we realize it or not.
So, in conclusion, while our government is encouraging the professionals to come back with all kinds of benefits, I still doubt that it will work because those are only short terms.It's still gonna be difficult to convince these people to come home. Unless the patriotism is still there in these people, it's gonna be a heck of a hard work to persuade them.
Note:The above written is just the author's opinion due to observations and discussions with people involved.
