I have been working in Kuala Lumpur for the last two months. This is my first time entirely working abroad. Though I travel abroad frequently for meetings or conferences, I have only ever worked in Jakarta before.
It’s completely different. At first, it’s enjoyable that I completely understand how to engage with people from other countries, to cooperate with them, to grasp the speed of their work, and to completely utilize business English the whole day.
Look For More Challenges
But it’s a little boring along the road. I believe Kuala Lumpur is less challenging than Jakarta or Indonesia. All is constant, tidy, in order.
Everything is in disarray in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. Every activity, every free time, every person you encounter calls for your ability to handle disorder.
Indeed, Kuala Lumpur offers you a piece of mind to live and to work. But for me, there is something deep within that makes me unhappy. I believe chaos is something I love. Chaos in my experience allows me to demonstrate my capacity more to handle it.
Kuala Lumpur’s situation prevents me from doing that. I believe I cannot realise my potential. There are times when I believe Kuala Lumpur can actually provide me peace of mind –no unfavorable Indonesian socio-political situation and narrative– and I can envision how I could properly bring up my son there going forward. Not only for him to learn, but also for me to provide him a better living condition in this really lovely location. But once more, Kuala Lumpur bores me somewhat.
Apart from working, many things in Jakarta and Indonesia I do outside; pursuits that might not pay you but can bring you happiness and fulfillment. Still, 90% of my friends are in Indonesia.
Time to Decide
Maybe I believe trying Kuala Lumpur for at most six months would be sufficient to feel like an expatriate laboring abroad. There is no question that Kuala Lumpur is a more modern and global city than Jakarta. It also allows me to re-train my business English. Long term, my first choices remain Jakarta and the Indonesian working environment.
Though I wish as well, being in Jakarta and Indonesia helps me to create my final legacy: to strike a balance between working and benefiting others and to do all in my power to affect a good policy creation to a bigger group of individuals.