Does the thought of walking into a roomful of strangers put you off?
And when you did finally do it, was there much awkwardness with little beads of perspiration dotting your forehead? Along with a nervous little laugh that came out of nowhere, punctuating short terse sentences? I’d hazard a guess that at least eight out of ten persons would react in this manner.
If that’s the case, would you even consider moving to a country full of strangers?
No warm safe circle of friends to hang out with. No family, much less extended family, to bicker with or go running to. No comfortable familiar places of worship to fall back on. No safe predictable job or clients to keep your financial worries at bay.
When an old schoolmate decide to pack it up and migrate to Australia, the rest of the gang just watched her with awe.
We admired her guts and determination. When the signal for an overhaul in her life went on, she took baby steps to make things better. There was no cringing and wasting away her life whining incessantly like a spoilt child.
There were mixed reactions to her move. Yearning to follow in her footsteps, a couple of the gals wanted to more details. Others muttered that such a drastic move was not their cup of tea.
Which made me wonder why those of us in the latter group were so reluctant to follow suit?
Especially when we come from a lineage (Malaysian Indians and Malaysian Chinese) that upped and left their homeland for a better life.
My own father had willingly got onto a ship sailing out to British Malaya, as Malaysia was known then, to make his fortune. Later, he returned to Kerala, bringing back a young bride to settle down for good here.
That was more than half a century ago.
Days when life was sans Internet at your fingertips, the tool that lets you practically experience life in a new land. Yet, the older I get, the more I flinch at the thought of having to take a one way ticket out of my comfort zone.
Would you do it?
To my old school pal Anne - I admire how you’ve built a new life for yourself. Here’s wishing you the very best in life.
And when you did finally do it, was there much awkwardness with little beads of perspiration dotting your forehead? Along with a nervous little laugh that came out of nowhere, punctuating short terse sentences? I’d hazard a guess that at least eight out of ten persons would react in this manner.
If that’s the case, would you even consider moving to a country full of strangers?
No warm safe circle of friends to hang out with. No family, much less extended family, to bicker with or go running to. No comfortable familiar places of worship to fall back on. No safe predictable job or clients to keep your financial worries at bay.
When an old schoolmate decide to pack it up and migrate to Australia, the rest of the gang just watched her with awe.
We admired her guts and determination. When the signal for an overhaul in her life went on, she took baby steps to make things better. There was no cringing and wasting away her life whining incessantly like a spoilt child.
There were mixed reactions to her move. Yearning to follow in her footsteps, a couple of the gals wanted to more details. Others muttered that such a drastic move was not their cup of tea.
Which made me wonder why those of us in the latter group were so reluctant to follow suit?
Especially when we come from a lineage (Malaysian Indians and Malaysian Chinese) that upped and left their homeland for a better life.
My own father had willingly got onto a ship sailing out to British Malaya, as Malaysia was known then, to make his fortune. Later, he returned to Kerala, bringing back a young bride to settle down for good here.
That was more than half a century ago.
Days when life was sans Internet at your fingertips, the tool that lets you practically experience life in a new land. Yet, the older I get, the more I flinch at the thought of having to take a one way ticket out of my comfort zone.
Would you do it?
To my old school pal Anne - I admire how you’ve built a new life for yourself. Here’s wishing you the very best in life.
