The question:
Hi Sherwyn,
I saw your blog on the expat aussie site. I read your blog and found out u r M'sian located in Perth. I am a housewife with 2 girls, n my hub, we are applying for migrating to Perth.
Can I know more about the standard of living, the best suburbs or place to rent a hse/apartment, schools for primary n preschool since my daughter is 6yrs and 3yrs old now. My hub is working as Construction Project Manager in Malaysia. We are taking the risk to migrate there w/o any job. Do u think is easy to find a job for a PR like us?
I hope you can advise me and give me more details about OZ:)
Thanks:)
The answer:
Hi,
I recently moved over here and been job hunting for about a month, but no luck yet. According to my friend it is because now is the end financial year and a lot of companies still do not know the new years budget for hiring new staff. If so then it will be easier to secure a job after July, hopefully...
The standard of living is very high, especially food. Perth is actually one of the highest and most expensive places to live in the world. There are many suburbs around and I'm not too familiar with all, but from what I've understood, don't always go for the cheap or low cost living areas but then you'll have the problem of paying more money for the houses in higher-end areas. The same applies to the schools, the 'better' schools are located in the 'better' suburbs. I would suggest you to invest in a good home. After all it will be a place you would want to call home. Invest time in it as well, as you will want to find out the surroundings, train stations, bus stops, schools, etc.
anyhow, regards to your hubby's job, construction in Malaysia and in Australia is totally different but then again I wouldn't know much about your hubby's experience in the industry. You may try to look for some jobs while you are in Malaysia and start giving it a go. www.seek.com.au is the largest recruitment site, much like Jobstreet.com.my - if you do not mind your hubby being away from home every 2 weeks, there is some serious money working in the mines. He should have good chances to work there assuming he has an engineering degree.
Just a highlight of the standard of living;
- petrol is around AUD$1.30-1.50/ltr
- a new camry/accord is around AUD$40k
- apartments/houses range from AUD$400k to millions
- a regular McDonalds meal is about AUD$8.00
If you look at the above, it is pretty intimidating for a Malaysian (everything x 3.2).. But if you look as an Australian income earner (1:1) cars and petrol is a lot cheaper than earning RM living in Msia (RM1.95/ltr and camry ~ RM150k). Houses and a McDonalds meal is about the same, but don't forget that fast food here is the cheapest choice of an outside meal compared to the mamaks/kopitiams in Malaysia.
As a PR myself, I didn't want to lose out on the benefits that came along with it, especially for my 3+month son... Plus the current political situation in Malaysia is going very unstable, so it is very worrying for the future of my family. Furthermore, it is getting more difficult to maintain/obtain a PR with the increasing number of immigrants in Australia.
I hope I've provided you with enough information and I will encourage a fellow Malaysian to come over seeing that the situation in Malaysia is getting worse on a daily basis. Of course this information is all from my perspective in Perth. If you are not fully committed to Perth, you can choose the other wonderful cities in Australia. I would think Melbourne or Sydney will have higher employment opportunities but I've never been to any of those cities so i'm sorry that i cant help you there.
Sincerely,
Sherwyn
Hope the above helped a little with your curiosity, if not please leave a comment below and i'll add it in =)
