Working where there are no Malays can be a challenge at certain times. When I first went for the interview I was always worried whether the non-Malays would accept me like how malay would. Whether they themselves would be comfortable with me working alongside them? Will I be able to fit in? Will they judge me according to how I dress? Will they accept my principles? Will I ever feel like Im at home?
And surprisingly, they did accept me for who I was. I get along with them just fine. I fit in even though they do their occasional beers. They dont mind me wearing the hijab, they dont mind me praying, they dont have any issue when I came in for work in a jubah. They accept my principles. And sometimes I feel Im more at home with them than with malays.
No, Im not saying that Im better than others. But we could learn a lot from these non-malays. From one point of view, they are very hardworking. They do things in a certain way because they are trained like that, unlike us where everything is "lebih kurang". Even if they don't have a system like ISO 9001:2001(aku main taram je), they get more things done. They don't take more time off for lunch. They're more productive. Cause they know that they need to learn how to survive in Malaysia.
Unlike we Malaysians, we know we're the bumi's and we take things for granted. We take education for granted, we feel we are financially stable, we want the best but we refuse to pay for it. We still earn a mediocre salary because we are nowhere near the productivity of westerners.
The fee where I work is RM700 per month for an 18 month old baby and RM1300-RM1500 per month for a 3-6 year old. These non-malays (and some malays) believe that in order to receive the best, they need to work hard and pay for the best. They dont mind throwing in some bucks for their kid's school cause they know that although education is free, GREAT education is not free.
And what else I noticed was that these non-malays practice manners way better than we do. They instill good work ethics, even though sometimes yes it can be a bit biased but that's what you get when you work in the private sector. They are more open to discussions, they teach me on how to be more assertive cause they practice that among each other, we even had a training on how to be more assertive. They are very warm and understanding and non-judgmental.
I did mention to Huda sometimes I do miss working with Malays. But then again, I don't think I ever really fit in when I was working in the government.
To me home is where the heart is.
4 comments:
i dont know where you work, but both have their pros and cons.
I think, for them, it helps to have a malay around, especially when they need to deal with the govt (at least tht's wht i learnt from my experience in the private sector), but one thing's for sure is tht for them, time equals money!
But i dunno la, i've yet to work in a malay-owned company, maybe it's the same. But with those guys, working hours equal work, work, work, after-office hours equal drink, drink, drink... hmmm..
time DOES equal money right? I swear they can be so *hea* sometimes but I guess that's how it works? To bring in profit at the end of the day.
I work at an international preschool and I guess it does help them heaps since not many of them can speak fluent malay (duh) and in my case they need someone who can teach bahasa malaysia in english. I havent worked in a malay owned company as well. Ive tried applying though but maybe the problem is that sometimes we are overqualified (matila muntah haha) for the position so they'd rather hire STPM holders or diploma holders than degree holders? shrug*
And theres not many private schools owned by the malays either (duhhhhh haha). But I want to teach!!! (tiba)
i have worked in both wholly owned malay & chinese company and taking from my experience, i'd rather work in a chinese company. maybe because i like the way they think, their mentality is different from us malays and not blowing my own horn but, i seem to have trouble fitting into, you know, those typical malays.
as long as what you do can bring profit to the company, you can do as you pleased. the bosses are more lenient if they think that you can do your job effectively. the downside, it also puts constant pressure on you to be more productive and effective and if possible to be 1 step ahead from them but hey, if it's for the best, so be it, right?
while in malay company (at least where i worked), you're restricted by hierarchy, people are more interested in office gossips, politics rather than being productive at work. lunch hour takes longer than it should and using prayer times as an excuse to sleep during office hours. tell me, how to be productive in such environment?
moose-i know the feeling,you feel as though you dont fit in the criteria for working with malays-kaki kepoh kako gosip kaki tidur kaki segala.i think half the people at my previous office dont even remember who i was.i never really joined them for their breakfast at the pantry,i couldt care less about the jamuans.i work and i sit in my room.does that make me a bad employee?
and the good thing is i get to work on my english!my english could use some polishing.cant afford messing up especially when i teach :-)
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