Being Malaysian, in a foreign country.

“Eh, awak boleh cakap Melayu ke? Fasih nyer.. Orang Cina ke, atau Melayu? Dari Malaysia eh?”

Just barely a month working here in Singapore, in a hospital to be exact, that’s the usual response I got from my patients and relatives (from Malay communities in Singapore). Somehow, somewhere, I do feel proud to be Malaysian here. Although I’m Chinese, I’m OCBC (Orang Cina Bukan Cina). That’s true…English is my first language, and I was brought up in a mission school, mostly English-spoken community around me. Bit by bit, I learned to pick up local dialects, and proud fluent speaker of Malay and also Sarawak Malay dialect.

Yes, I’m a Chinese ethnic, and I am very proud to call myself a Malaysian. Despite how different Malaysia and Singapore in terms of socio-economic achievements and academically as well, I strongly feel that Malaysia is still the best place to chill out. And yes, the people.

Singapore. Why do I decide to start my first career here? Is it because of salary and recognition? Maybe. Am I paid sub-par in Malaysia? Yes. That’s the reality. Money is everything. The saying goes, “Money is not everything, but everything is MONEY”. How true is that? To me personally, money is not the main agenda for me to be here. Working in the hospital can be very uptight, stressful and quite depressing at times. I’m facing quite a lot of elderly patients here, day in and day out. I’m practically alright with that.

I must admit, I do have a culture shock when I first started working here. Relatives of patients don’t really take part actively in caring for the patient, and hell lots of expectations upon the health care professionals (doctors and nurses alike). Nonetheless, patients in Singapore are far more educated, hence the expectations and demand for better and quality health care is on top priority. I do like how things are carried out here, as the CEO of my hospital mentioned recently, that the hospitals should be a patient-centred care.

From my early observations and reflections, I do notice a lot of differences in practice here in Singapore, compared to Malaysia, particularly back in Sarawak. I’d love to share all these when I’m back, and of course, as a medical lawyer.

I’m thankful and grateful, I’m a Malaysian. I feel more ‘Malaysian’ in a foreign country. I believe the same goes to fellow Malaysians abroad. Being able to speak multi-lingual is of course, the best package we all have. We can speak many dialects, languages and assimilated many different cultures in Malaysia. What more can we ask for? Compared to other countries, we fare far lot better than them. I was once asked by a friend whether I’ll be back for the coming general elections this year. I didn’t hesitate to answer, “YES, definitely.”

I might stand for election some day. Maybe. =)