We're from Kuching, which is a city that has unparalled delicious food but sadly, the same can't be said for job opportunities. A lot of our friends had gone overseas to work, in search of better pay and better job prospect.
They're scattered all over the globe from UK to Australia to Middle East. I would be lying if I said that I'm not proud that despite coming from a small city, we managed to break the mould of our parents and gain exposure overseas.
Now back to my friend, he's currently working as an engineer and draws a respectable salary. He occassionally complains about his pay (who doesn't?) and doesn't hide his ambition to join our overseas working army.
His aim is Singapore and he had sent tons of job applications in hope of a favourable reply. However to date replies had been few and far between and the main problem lies not in his qualifications, but his preposterously high expected salary of SG$3500.
Even my brother-in-law, 32 with a Master's Degree can't command that high a salary.
Just recently he had the opportunity to interview for a job in Singapore. He emailed the HR to enquire more about the job. When they didn't reply he didn't have the decency to at least call them up personally. Obviously he didn't land the job as he's still eating kolomee in Kuching.
So it all boils down to choice. It ain't that hard to get a job overseas but you must be willing to sacrifice some short-term gains in return for long term benefits. Akin to starting a new job at a new company, you can't expect your salary to double-up right away, furthermore we're talking about a new country?
Who doesn't wish to work overseas and earn currency that's at a higher exchange platform than our measly Malaysian Ringgit? But be prepared to sacrifice the 3F, being friends, families, familiarity. It isn't that simple to just pack your bags and go. There are tons of things from different aspects to take into consideration.
Frankly, I don't foresee him working overseas in the near future. But I still wish him all the best, in both his career and his life in general.
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