Introducing moi.
Hi there guys. My name is Michelle Wong, and I’m a Malaysian Chinese currently living in Australia. At the beginning, where the the home page asks you to log in by stating where home is right now, I have continued to put down Malaysia, mainly because I cannot bring myself to put down any other place as home.
I’m currently a month away from being 17, so that means I’m pretty close to graduating. =)
I’ve lived in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa and I currently reside in Perth, WA. I’ve made loads of friends all over the place, but unfortunately, I find that one of the hardest parts about a TCK lifestyle is maintaining friendships. Some friends stay in touch, some don’t, and the ones you thought were the closest to you just end up ditching you because of the distance.
I come from Malaysian Chinese parents, so that has saved me some confusion on my own identity.
MY TCK lifestyle has led me on a journey different from many other peoples, although I can’t say that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. But I can say that I am now open to many things that others are not, and due to my never ending international schooling, I can safely say that I will never offend another person by ignorant. =) While I can also say, I wish that this was my last move, I believe it will not be for some time. However, this website has opened my eyes to other people a lot like me, and for that I m actually rather grateful as I thought I was part of a select few specially chosen for this crazy and sometimes tortuous ride!
All thanks go to Brice for adding me on Facebook and introducing me to this website.
Hope to get to know others, especially Malaysians, who experience the same situation on a daily basis!
December 27th, 2007 at 4:49 am
hey guys. =)
to aisyah: great to meet another malaysian, yeah, i don’t really know many malaysian TCKs, but if I am an example of many, then i wonder where the others are all hiding, because i want to meet them too!
to alistair: also great to meet another malaysian. why do you refer to yourself as a ‘chinese malaysian’ though?
erm, i’m actually in morley right now, not very close to claremont, haha. although i have heard of christchurch from a website when i was looking for schools at first. yeah, curtin is very popular around here though, highly respected. =) i’ve been here for about 4 going on 5 months now. to be honest, i actually can’t wait to leave the place, there’s just too many restrictions on it? i dunno if you experienced or sensed that in your lifetime…
but great meeting you guys though. =)
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December 27th, 2007 at 5:19 am
Morley, i know where it is but i can’t say i’ve been there. 5 months ay… give it some time.. it grows on you. What exactly do you mean by restrictions?? I’m still not sure what you mean..
However here are my tips for fitting in Australia:
1. Learn how to take a seemingly abusive remark as a term of endearment “Simmy you black-man go back to your own country, you’re making us look bad!” translates to “Simmy you’re awesome, we love you” hahaha…
2. Never refuse a drink. You may not be a heavy drinker but most Australians go by the philosophy of “Don’t trust anyone who doesn’t drink cause they’ve usually got something to hide…”
3. Play a sport.. ANY sport.. If you do this and you’re good at it, you can forgo number 2.
Oh I’m Chinese Malaysian because i’m Chinese with a Malaysian passport.. thats they way i see it. I’m rediculously un-Malaysian. I don’t speak Malay (although indo is close its not the same) and i don’t know anything about the country’s history or the national anthem. I am however Chinese in terms of culture…. I dunno.. calling myself Chinese Malaysian is my way of emphasising what I am rather than what I’m not… I only have a malaysian passport because its the one i got when i was born. I don’t really associate with the country at all…
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December 27th, 2007 at 5:32 am
LOL.
i might have a problem with number 2, I don’t drink at all…XD plus i’ve been taught that my drink will get spiked sometime during my life, so accepting a drink could get a leeeetle tricky for me.
and number 3 kinda doesn’t work for me either, i avoid sports with my whole heart, although my avoidance of it might just mean the end OF my heart. XD plus i’m not that good at sports anyway, so yeah, haha.
erm, restrictions, like you know how the malls are all closed on sunday, nothing can be opened past 5pm unless it’s on a thursday o you have special permission from the government and whatnot?
yeah, sundays are like my only time to get out cuz i have a casual job on saturdays, so it doesn’t leave me very much time to go out if i want to do homework and stuff on the weekdays. plus a lot of the stuff is not allowed into the country so i don’t get the stuff i’m used to (not drugs mind!) because it’s just not allowed into the country. =S
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December 27th, 2007 at 5:38 am
ahhhhhh See I love Perth because I’m an athlete.. I love the outdoors with all my heart. I played sports on Saturdays and watched sports on Sundays.. Spent time at school working or on the rugby field or running to Swanbourne.. hmm swanny… Perth is an outdoors kind of place. If you spend enough time outdoors you meet people who then show you the house-party culture of perth. Its not a conventional city, but then again I dislike convential anything :P…
Oh and when i said never refuse a drink, i meant from your friends… If you want to get extra safe, only unopened drinks.. hahaha… and even if you don’t drink it, just hold it… you stand out less… I have friends who don’t drink that do that.. hahaha…
But if you can do Number 1, you’re a long way to being acccepted. A lot of my asian friends always felt that they were victims of racism.. when really its just insensative australians showing affection the only way they know how.. hahaha…
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December 27th, 2007 at 5:48 am
LOL.
by hurling about abusive comments. it’s like a little boy trying to get the attention of a little girl by pulling her hair, haha.
kinda odd, but i guess i can see where you’re coming from, lol. i have this white guy in like half my classes who does that. at first i didn’t know what to make of him, but i realised he was joking most of the time, so i let it slide, haha.
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October 29th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Hi Michelle, I’m still new to this site, and it’s great to see some others on here who are currently living in Australia.
I live just across the Nullabor from you. I.e, in little old Adelaide.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a TCK convention in Australia some day?
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October 30th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Hi there susie.
Yeah, it’d be great, and honestly I would jump at the opportunity to do so, but it’d be bloody difficult getting everyone to meet from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, etc! LOL.
One day we will. I think. XD
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