I left three days ago
But no one seems to know I’m gone
Home is where the hatred is
Home is filled with pain and it
Might not be such a bad idea if I never
Never went home again…
The lyrics from Kanye West’s On My Way Home don’t appear particularly home-friendly. It’s a consolation to know that he does take some poetic license in the piece.
Truth is, many of us expats in Malaysia don’t feel that way. However, some of us do. To others, home is our birth countries as well as where we currently are now.
I personally prefer the third option; you can always go home when you feel that it’s time. But you have the choice to experience other cultures—the best of both worlds.
It’s not always rosy for us Other Expats, however. Some of us have to be away from home for various reasons; wars, and political and economic instabilities. Or just looking for a better life.
Then, it is not just about not having the opportunity to return home, it’s having the good fortune to be able to live outside of your home.
Whether you’ve made Malaysia your home or you reserve that title for your birth country, you should be grateful for the opportunity that you have, to be where you are now.
Samar Almontser, our guest in this week’s podcast understands that. “Appreciate all that’s good in the country. Don’t make the bad things bigger than they are. Be happy that you’re blessed because you know what it’s like to be in worse situations where there’s no water or electricity, and there’s war. You’re here, be thankful and use all the opportunities that you have. You don’t have to integrate, but you have to learn to appreciate and work with the people.”
Samar is in the Publications and Research arm of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) and loves poetry, with her collection of poems, When I danced in my mind, recently published on Amazon. You can see and follow her work on her blog by the same name When I Danced in my Mind.
https://radiopublic.com/other-expats-6rVKqk/s1!8316a
What should you take away from this?
The people may not always be welcoming. Renting a place to call a (temporary) home might be crazy hard.
These are all reminders and motivations for you to strive for a level or moment when such challenges will be the least of your worries. Plus, it’s a prompt that you still have another home.
We’ll love to hear from you. Where is home to you?
The Other Expats’ sound design is by the Big Mean Sound Machine and the intro was created by the Small Room Production. Subscribe to the Other Expats podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts and Anchor. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Send us an email via hello @ otherexpats.com.
Love this episode! I can relate to a lot of what she’s talking about. Does she have a Twitter or blog where we can follow her work?
Thanks for commenting, Nessreen! Yes, she does. It’s samaralmont.blogspot.my. I updated the post to include her blog where you can see more of and follow her work.