KUALA LUMPUR: It has been six years since Wan Siti Hajar Wan Yaacob and her husband migrated to Australia.
The 35-year-old said she has no regrets over the decision.
"We did everything we could to survive in Kuala Lumpur, yet we barely made ends meet. So we decided to seek for better opportunities in a foreign country," she said.
Hajar, who is a Bachelor of Information Sciences Record Management graduate, was a public relations executive prior to moving to Melbourne.
However, in Australia, she became a fruit picker and worked in a factory.
After two years, she and her husband saved up enough money to open a Malaysian restaurant.
"It has been three years since we started our business, but it wasn't easy," said Hajar.
"We experienced so many difficulties when we first arrived. We knew no one and the weather was either extremely cold or extremely hot to the point where you can faint."
She said she was drawn to the discipline and the work-life balance offered in Australia.
"It doesn't matter if you are just a labourer or professional, they pay you based on hours and it is paid biweekly.
"Everything is systematically done, even though you are working at a farm. They have their standard operating procedures and the workers are very disciplined.
"If they start work at 8am, by 7.55am they are all geared up. They will stop work at 5pm no matter what and the rest of the work will be continued the next day. If they work extra, the company will offer them overtime pay."
Hajar, however, believed that Malaysia was still the "best" place and hoped that one day she would be able to find better opportunities back home.
"Most Malaysians here would love to return if we can get reasonable pay. I hope to go back when the economy recovers and, hopefully, I can set up my own business back home.
"I also hope there will be more varied job opportunities to encourage those who are working overseas to return to Malaysia."
A surgeon, who migrated from Malaysia to the United Kingdom last year, said she was prompted to leave due to the "toxic working environment" and uncertain future that healthcare workers in Malaysia faced.
"In Malaysia, I was a contract doctor. My privileges were eroded. I was forced to serve a department that did not align with my goal of becoming a surgeon and was bullied because they knew it was not my department of choice.
"My superiors told me: 'You are here forever, don't even think about changing departments.'
"I was threatened and bullied in my own work environment, hence I migrated to the UK," said the doctor, who spent five years in the Malaysian healthcare system.
She also claimed that she was given a bad review by her department head because of her desire to switch departments.
"Others who didn't do much and took long maternity leave still got high marks for their appraisals.
"I was involved in numerous extracurricular activities, even international ones, but yet I was marked down very badly."
She said she now has better control of her life, apart from being able to work in her preferred department.
"The working environment is not toxic. You get your preferred department, people treat us like humans and not robots and our annual leave is a right.
"We can take it whenever we want and the administration is responsible enough to find a replacement if there is a lack of doctors."