Building Bridges, Conquering Borders

It was on the 28^th of August 2005 that I first step foot in West Malaysia. A place that was once was a alien to me but now a friend. Living in the west has taught me how to appreciate my birthplace and to be proud of being an East Malaysian.

Life here is indeed a challenging journey not just for me, but also for the many other East Malaysians. The biggest barrier for us is probably language. I had to spend close to a year just learning how to speak the West Malaysian Malay. Since the pronunciation and slang is different, I often face difficulties in ordering food and drinks. For example, back home, we call tea without milk ‘teh o ice’ but here it’s called ‘teh ice’ and it was only recently that I learned the name of the drink here. Imagine that!

Apart from the food and drink, the lifestyle here was quite hard to adapt to at first. This is because the sun sets and rises earlier in the east compared to the west. Everything comes to life by six in the morning. The coffee shops would be open and you could even smell the aroma of food and coffee. Everywhere you go you can see children in uniform going to school. By six in the evening, the football fields and parks would be full of people from all ages doing sports or just relaxing.

As a student in West Malaysia, interesting questions such as “Do you people live on trees in the east?” or “Is Mount Kinabalu behind your house?” seem to be among the favorite questions asked among friends. After a while I got the hang of it and instead of correcting them I’ll just laugh it out and smile. On campus, I find it sometimes hard to interact with students from West Malaysia because the culture here is to be competitive and the best among all.

This does not mean that people do not compete with one another in the East, people do compete, but in a way that the relationship with one another is still maintained and not strained. Even my East Malaysian friends who are working here say that it is very stressful working in a competitive surrounding where everyone is so busy with so little time to relax.

West Malaysian drivers also seem to be less patient compared to East Malaysians. I grew up with the knowledge that West Malaysian move fast and work has to be completed on time or earlier. In Sabah, daily activities and office work can sometimes be at a slower pace. People do compete in work and school but yet, they still find time to relax and spend time with their friends and family after work.

But I do like the taxis in here because of the meter system, which makes it difficult for the taxi drivers to cheat passengers. In the east, taxi drivers do not even have meters and for a journey that would cost RM 5 here; it would probably cost RM 10 or RM 15 in the east.

West Malaysia also holds many opportunities be it education or work compared to East Malaysia. In seems a trend for high school leavers to further their studies in here. I am proof of that fact. After graduation, many of us do not go back to work because the pay here is higher and the job prospects are in abundance.

So as tough as it may seem for an East Malaysian to live here, it is and has been a good exposure and learning experience that is worth a lifetime.