Malaysia in the Eye of a Nepali Migrant Worker

You know how you need to travel elsewhere so that someone can tell you something fascinating about your own country?

Arbin is a Nepali, who told me about a totally different Malaysia that I have known of.

If you are a Malaysian or Nepali who is minimally aware of what is going on in the society, you will know that many Nepali has come all the way to Malaysia to further study or sell their labor power, legal or illegally.

Arbin spent two years in Malaysia, initially trying to get enrolled in higher education there. Upon arriving, the college, run by Tamil according to him, said that the fee has been doubled. Arbin rejected to comply, and left, even when the college was detaining all his legal documents. (Arbin was not the first one, I had been told scamming stories by a few others--some got cheated on salary amount, some got cheated on working conditions)

Arbin was resourceful. He quickly found his refuge among groups of Nepali in Kota Raya, an old part of the city Kuala Lumpur. From then on, his life comprised paying 'protection fees' and bribes in the country, to various gangsters of different ethnicity, and of course police and immigration officer. The latter was so flexible, even buying them a meal would suffice.

Arbin witnessed people who were stabbed in the middle of a busy market by robbers, and nobody does nothing. (Many Nepali throughout the years told me that they were robbed in Malaysia)

Arbin witnessed friends who looked completely fine the day before, suddenly passed away--many of them. Health experts call it "Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome (SUDS)" which could be related to stress, fatigue due to overwork, and weather. Arbin thinks it has something to do with drinking too much alcohol. Apparently, they have access to illegally imported alcohol, which would be otherwise quite expensive in Malaysia. They even have access to various exotic animals such as wild boars. Someone would go to the restaurant where Arbin work and sold them.

Indeed, the Nepal embassy reported an average of 9 Nepali death per week, amounting to nearly 3000 death in 12 years time (see news). From the side of Nepal, receiving relatives from abroad in coffins is rather common, as this happens also in other migrant destinations such as the Gulf countries.

Arbin witnessed people ran away from exploitative salaries to find jobs elsewhere (illegally as their legal documents hold by employers), which promised them higher salary, only to end up not being paid at all. The new employer even threatened to call for police if they would not stay silent. So they escaped again and the cycle continued.

Arbin also witnessed people who got caught by immigration officers just to come back to the same place again after a few months. They told him that once they were deported to the Thai border, they were immediately sent back to Malaysia with the help of Pakistani trafficking agents (This reminds me of the 139 graves found in 'cruel jungle trafficking camps' in the Thai-Malaysia border by Malaysian authorities in 2015).

Arbin knew someone who was selling illegal drugs, and attempted hard to persuade him against doing it. But he ridiculed Arbin and said that he could buy his way out easily (through bribing). One day he was captured by police and never returned. (Drug trafficking in Malaysia is punished harshly--capital punishment is possible).

Arbin loved the cheap food prices in Malaysia though. He said he could live in the country with 100 ringgit per month back in the early 2000s (approximately 2300 rupees or 20 dollars). He especially liked the night market during Ramadan. Some nearby vendors even spoke Nepali to them.

Arbin was living a harsh life too. Apart from having to pay multiple parties, he was afraid to go anywhere as an illegal person. He wanted to go home but could not without legal documents. But he knew that he could not stay any longer in Malaysia, so he found an agent who asked him for 5000 ringgit to get him through custom. He was warned that he must go to the custom official at one particular lane only, otherwise he would get caught. So after getting his ticket, he went to the airport. But as the custom section was too crowded, he got so nervous (in case he could not get to the right lane) that he returned and paid extra to change his air ticket, and spent the night in airport. Early in the morning, when the custom section became empty, he quickly rushed to the 'right' lane and managed to get home to Nepal, without any documents.

Arbin told me he has not told things which happened to him in Malaysia to his family and fellow villagers. He joked that somehow people think that by living overseas, he is growing trees which bear money. Nepali people still tell me that Malaysia is a developed and good country, that we have done it well. I always answered with a question 'What is developed?' I only know that I am never worried about getting robbed in Nepal.

Up till today, the migration trend continues. Flights from Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur are always crowded, and it is difficult for them to understand complicated flight instructions in a foreign language, though they quickly picked up the language during their stay in Malaysia. I used to meet kind air hostess who spoke affectionately to them in Malay, especially in the Kuala Lumpur-Kathmandu flight, and they always understood. You can easily spot Nepali in any place in Malaysia, especially as security guards.

Similarly, in Malaysia, people are as indifferent as ever to the migrant workers' life in Malaysia, even though their number is so enormous that I imagine our daily lives could not function anymore without them.

I sarcastically told my friends in Nepal, using dependency theory, "You know, by working in Malaysia, Nepali people are helping Malaysia to earn money by keeping cost of businesses low. Those businesses paid tax to develop the country too. So thank you for developing our country! By the way, even so, the Malaysians don't care a damn about you!"

p/s Arbin is now working as an agricultural technician with a community in Nepal. He has given me permission to write down his story. I hope I did justice to his story in this short piece.