One day, a technician in a factory thrust a name card into my hand and said to me, “Boss, my English no good, I cannot go, you go”.
I was in the midst of carrying out an Electrical Safety Audit of this 11kV Factory in Nilai, so I did not pay much attention to what he was saying. But somehow that name card entered my shirt pocket, and when I got home, I must have left it on the table.
The wife saw it and asked why I had a name card from a Migration Agent. The address of this Agent was next to the KLCC. Next thing I knew, we were going there on a Saturday morning. Any day out to the KLCC was a good day, by her reckoning!
We met a young man at the Migration Agency who took us through the paces to apply for migration. He highlighted the options to go to Canada, USA, or Australia. Australia seemed the most realistic due to its proximity to Malaysia.
Lo and behold, before the hour was up, he had completed a points tally. It turned out that I had a really good chance to migrate to Australia, as a Professional Engineer. We did not decide anything but we found ourselves meeting him roughly once a month and submitting paperwork as and when requested.
Within 6 months or so, I was in a classroom with many half my age, going for the IELTS Exam. I got a reasonable grade but my agent told me to study harder to try to hit the 85 to 90% mark! This would give me an extra 10 points and put me ahead of the queue.
I applied myself, hit the target and got the extra points. Next thing I knew, we were sat in front of a Caucasian lady who had the power to decide our fate! We passed the interview by this official of the Australian Government. Then things started to get more real with the preparation of our Police Clearance and Health Checks.
We were approved for PR soon after and I looked at my wife and said,”Darling, are we actually doing this?”
She knew I flew by the seat of my pants, and has always supported my initiatives, even the half-baked ones! She said,”Why not?” and that was it.
Within 18 months, the bags were packed. We rented some cubic space in a container bound for the Freemantle port, in Perth, with our prized possessions! We followed soon after, kids in tow.
The twins were nearing 4 years, and our eldest was nearly 8.This was in 2016.
The transition was easier than expected, and the children took to schooling in this “foreign” country, like fish to water. After just 6 months, I was surprised by the comment from the twins class teacher. She said, “They appear to have been born here, Mr. Nash!”
Talk about going with the flow and allowing the Universe to “plan” such a life changing move.
Fortunately for us, it was the right decision and the benefits are becoming more apparent as the children grow up here.
However Malaysia will always be my “Tanah Air” and my wife and I look forward to returning to Malaysia in 10 to 15 years or so.