Sorry but I live in Sydney and that's totally untrue. Trains are late almost 50% of the time could be accurate, but definitely not between 10minutes to an hour. Trains are so much more dependable than buses. Besides some major problems like trees that fell on the tracks or something that fell onto the overhead lines, I've never been delayed more than 15 minutes to work by trains.

First things first, there is absolutely no shortage of doctors in Australia. In fact, there are so many international graduates that are not offered an internship in Australia. Even for senior positions, they aren't short of doctors. Nurses yes. Doctors DEFINITELY not.

Secondly, some companies do transfer your experience over. It totally depends on your previous employment. If you were employed by some Sdn. Bhd. company previously and have absolutely no experience with global markets then of course it won't be recognised. But if you have prior experience dealing with global markets and relevant experience, it will be recognised.

You are short-sighted in thinking that parents who earn RM20k-30k should have no problems sending their children overseas to study. Tuition fees alone would easily cost between RM120k-160k at this point in time. But what about 10-20 years from now? What if Australian dollar gets stronger and stronger? Do you think it'll be so easy for them to afford to roll them through uni then? RM120-160k is purely tuition fees, what about accommodation and cost of living. Imagine every RM you earn is only AU0.33 now, what if it's only AU0.25 in 20 years time when your kid needs to go uni?! If their children are Australian PRs or citizens they can get scholarships, they can apply for HECS and it'll be easier for them to get into the degree that they want. There are also other perks, like for example; Australian medical grads always have an advantage of international grads when it comes to looking for a job. There are many other factors to consider mate.

1) That was what? 7-10 years ago? You don't know anything. Medical grads can't apply for PR until AFTER they finish their internship. So they have to be granted a work visa right after their medical studies to work here. Did you know that international medical students from NSW had a "protest" because 90% of Australian medical grads were offered positions in hospitals here but only less than 20% of international grads were offered? I bet you didn't know that.

2) You've seen your people get discounted and I've seen my people get accredited. Doesn't mean you are right and I'm wrong. Like I've clearly stated, there are people who do get accredited with the experience if they have been relevant. I'm a great example to that.

3) Getting scholarships in Malaysia is so much more difficult if you aren't Bumi. As a Malaysian you should know that. I'm not saying standard of living in Australia is better with A$5k salary than RM20k salary in Malaysia. I'm purely stating the facts that there are so many other factors than just looking at it as how you have.

It seems that you are wrong and you are only making an ass out of yourself by assuming. I love Malaysia and I've given thoughts about working back in Malaysia and Singapore. All I'm merely stating is that there are a lot more advantages if your children are Australian citizens/PRs compared to if they are rich kids in Malaysia if you want to send them overseas to study. All I have done is state another point of view that defers from yours but yet equally as factual (if not more). You can continue looking at things through our thin black lenses but there are always 2 sides to a coin. Grass isn't always greener on the other side but it doesn't mean the grass isn't green on both sides.

Gosh how old are you? Are you so immature and stubborn to accept another person's point of view?! In the first place, I didn't say you are wrong (except for the doctor part, because that's very obvious you don't know anything about the current situation). Secondly, this was never an argument, I was merely stating that there are many other reasons why someone would give up a high paying job to move to Australia. Some of which are benefits to their children who would be local uni students instead of international students. Anyway, I've done stating my points. No point saying anymore when people are too stubborn to accept there are 2 sides to every story.

Unfortunately that's the medical situation here. Public hospitals don't necessary have the budget to have a full roster on to cover ED after hours. You were also unlucky that on that day there were 60 people in the ED. There will be nights that the ED only have less than 10 people waiting, so it's really based on luck. However, 3 doctors seem to be a pretty thin line-up. Most hospitals would generally have 2-3 residents and 1-2 registrars in ED and the rest would be covering the wards. The reason why doctors can't help is that they basically follow the system and "pick-up" patients 1-by-1 according to the order they came in and priority. Nurses are supposed to be the ones that care for these patients while the doctors are busy. Most probably based on your brother's symptoms, he was flagged as a low priority. Again, unfortunately that's how it works in Australia.

There are GPs who open after hours and there are some medical centres that have an after hours contact number where you can call them and they'll meet you at the centre if they feel it's important enough. However, these are few and far between. Most people here would just go to the ED for after hours.

Nah you can. There are medical centres that do allow you to walk-in. GP practice mostly requires appointments and most GPs have their books full as well but medical centres do cater for walk-in. I don't have my own GP here so I stick to the medical centre near my work place or home.

I see. I guess it depends on the medical centres themselves. I know GPs are pretty much impossible to just walk up. But medical centres are a lot more flexible. The medical centre near my workplace is mostly walk-in. Appointments incur a minimum cost of $70. Ouch. While the medical centre near home works on both appointments/walk-in, like a cross between regular GPs and the other medical centre.

I think people the view that Singapore as better than Australia/Malaysia is a typical "grass is always greener on the other side" view. Don't get me wrong, many things you've stated in here are accurate but I've worked in Singapore and considered PR in Singapore during that period of time and it's not all a bed of roses there. Non-lazy Singaporeans are great but that's because of the highly competitive nature of the country and thus it creates a very bad/unhealthy work environment.

You can't argue with the education there being top notch but only if you are good enough to be accepted into 1 of the top unis there. The rest are probably only slightly above average. In terms of politics, you got it spot on. Most people outside of Singapore believe that the are no political issues in Singapore but Singaporeans would be the first to disagree. Many of them are unhappy at the government at the moment and want changes to be made. They feel that the government is more of a Sdn. Bhd. rather than anything else. In terms of government incentives, it differs from a PR to a citizen. So while they have great benefits for citizens, PRs don't enjoy that luxury but of course PRs are still treated better than employment pass holders.

And yes, you are absolutely right that the COE for vehicles is crazy at the moment. I don't foresee them dropping. Even HDB flats aren't cheap anymore, what more private housing. Singapore's a nice place to live but there are also many drawbacks that you would realice once you stay there. Just the same as it would be anywhere.

If your company sends you overseas for a knowledge sharing or temporary transfer, they should bare the cost of your relocation. Basically you should be provided accommodation and a living allowance (i.e. $50 per day). If they'll be providing you with accommodation and allowance, I doubt they would pay for shipping of personal items there as it's only for a year and you wouldn't need to relocate your home to Australia.

Ok, I think you need to be corrected.

1. While a lot of job vacancies do get passed to headhunters, a lot of companies in Australia have a "Careers" page where they publish their own vacancies. This would actually suit the recruiting companies a lot more because they don't have to pay the headhunters a commission.

2. Even if you go through a headhunter, you can/should always ask them which company is it that they are advertising. I've had maybe 5 headhunters contact me in the last 2 years and they've always told me the company after I asked. It's very simple, headhunters will want you to toss in your CV into the bucket because that gives them an opportunity to get commission if you are hired; so they'll do almost anything to get you on-board.

3. As for your other comment on interview with headhunters, unfortunately that's a pre-requisite. However, you probably only need to meet each agency only once for them to get your profile in. I understand that this is a problem for you because you aren't in Australia but that's how it works. Headhunters generally prefer to meet the applicants in person to get to know them first before putting your application in. They don't want to just throw anybody's application in and get written off by their clients due to bad attitude or something from the applicants.

I personally don't see anything wrong with working in Singapore. If there are more job opportunities, it's closer to home and you aren't ready to commit to such a huge change in life yet; then don't come to Australia. Go work in Singapore first.

1. That's how the system works in Australia. So either you accept it for what it is or too bad. Considering that we are the ones that needs a job, I'm guessing it's better we conform to the system rather than expecting the system to conform to us. Anyway, as I have mentioned; vacancies are advertised on the respective company's website instead of them putting it up else where.

2. Australian headhunters do, at least based on my personal experience. I don't know about Malaysian headhunters. I personally didn't know that you are speaking with Malaysian headhunters as it would surprise me that Australian vacancies are dealt with by headhunters in Malaysia. I naturally assumed that you were lucky enough to deal with headhunters based here in Australia.

3. Well, if it's a waste of time then don't apply or don't bother. If you think that your skillset is so great that headhunters should be begging you to submit your CV, then wait. Headhunters will definitely call you if they know about you. As I said, I've not put myself out there but I've had 5 calls in the last 2 years. I'm not saying that I'm good, it's just that my details are on LinkedIn, my professional certification website and on Seek.com.au and if a headhunter thinks my experience is relevant to the vacancy, they would give me a call.

I think that there's no debate required for you. You seem pretty set that the only thing that Australia has going for you is that you have a PR. Other than that, you don't show any real interest in coming here. Follow what you think is right. No point relocating here and regretting it later. If you've had interviews for vacancies in Australia while in Malaysia, I must say that you are extremely lucky. I've had 2-3 friends who tried in the last 2 years and none of them were even given an interview because they weren't in the country. They held PRs but were hoping for a job before migrating but no one would give them a chance. 1 took a leap of faith and came here to look for a job and only got a job 6 months later while the other is still trying from Malaysia.

Nah, I understand where Alvin is coming from. Even on Seek.com.au, most vacancies are advertised by recruitment agencies/headhunters. At least for my profession/industry it is.

Look, I'm not sure what industry you are in or what jobs you are looking for. But I'm pretty sure whatever job that you are looking for, there's more or less an industry or 2 that you are looking at. Manufacturing, retail, telco, financial institution, engineering, O&G etc etc. Share with us which industry you are looking at and hopefully some of us would know what other the bigger companies in Australia in those industries. From there, you can look at the Career pages of those companies. Else, do some research on your own and find out which other the bigger companies for those industries and look at their Career pages.

I see interesting. Well, do try again. I got my job here because my current company had a vacancy in Singapore and I applied for that while I was in Singapore. During the interview, I was offered a similar vacancy in Australia and next thing you know; here I am.

It was my friend, not me that took a leap of faith. I'm not brave enough to do that unfortunately =)

1. I'm in the IT field. Currently in telco industry.
2. No idea about that, my friend was lucky because he stayed with a friend during that 6 months. If you are going to pay rental then I would assume you need at least AU$8k to survive that 6 months.
3. N/A
4. I've been here 2.5 years now.
5. Gumtree is a terrible site for looking at jobs. It's mostly a second-hand cash on delivery sales site. Seek.com.au or monster.com.au are your best bets, but as I earlier stated, while it's like Jobstreet, the adverts are mostly put up by agencies.

Accountancy..... Well, Big 4s have their own careers page. Hahaha. Maybe what I can suggest is that you tell us what industry you prefer to be in and people here might be able to help. If you are really keen on migrating to Australia, I'll give you the same advice I gave my friends. Get a job first, any job. I don't care if it's not what you want to do. As long as it pays well and it's along the lines of what you want to do, get it first and migrate here. A lot of local headhunters want to meet you in person, hence being here is important. Once you have a job here and have local experience, it'll be a lot easier to switch to the job that you want.

$8k is the very least that you will need. I've given you $250 a week for a room rental and the rest would be for food. If you want to have a semi-comfortable life then you'll need more. $10-12k would be a good indication. Hahaha. Rental in Perth is high, don't let that quiet lil place deceive you.

Really depends on your boss. Some bosses in my company are really flexible and understanding. 4PM on Fridays they head down to the pub for drinks together. While some are a lot more picky on your work hours. I have friends in the engineering field and they are doing well. 1 just made Manager after about 7-8 years working with them while the others are in senior positions.

Nopp, use Monster or Seek. They are a lot better than "The Age". Don't think anyone here really uses newspaper job ads. It's all online. Another word of advice, update your LinkedIn profile. If you don't have 1, create it right now.

Seek usually tells you location of the company. Like Western suburbs or CBD etc.

Well, like I said earlier. If you aren't too keen on Australia and only want to further your career, then perhaps Australia's not the place for you. Australians value either experience with MNC or experience in Australia. So if you have neither than be prepared to be discounted. The question you need to ask yourself is what is more important, moving to Australia or a job? If a job is more important then don't even bother with Australia but then again, no hram trying.

I can understand why your friend is stuck in his job. Firstly, he left the Big-4. Once join the commercial sector you can no longer expect to be promoted every year or every 2-3 years for Manager. I will probably not be promoted any time in the near future because I don't see my Manager and Senior Manager leaving any time soon and there's no place for 2 managers or 2 SMs in my dept. Secondly, if he's in a 1-man accounting job then sorry; there's absolutely no potential for him to rise up. He's stuck there forever, even if he waits another 6 years.

There are, you just need to know where to look (http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Rent/Apartment-Unit-Flat/VIC/St-Kilda/?adid=8163835). Of course it's not easy to come by but there definitely are cheaper accommodation options out there.

Hahaha, you are unfortunate then. Don't generalise Australians because of 1 bloke. Most Australians are very easy going and are flexible as long as they get results.

This post has been edited by konichiwawa: Feb 14 2013, 01:36 PM

As stated earlier, don't let 1 or 2 experiences generalise all Australians for you. It's no surprise that racism is a problem here but not only for Asians. For middle easterns, aboriginals etc it's all the same. Racism is a problem everywhere, even in Malaysia so that's nothing "new" there.

I don't see this happening in my current company. I think you are just thinking the worse of Australia and have no actual knowledge of the situation. HR here take discrimination in any forms very seriously. While Australians are not as bad as Americans, they will still go to the court over anything that they feel has gone against them. So most HRs here would want to nip the problem in the butt first before it goes out to public. I know the department at my company who deals with internal complaints and they definitely do take these kind of cases very very seriously. A lot of effort is taken to gather evidence and to understand the situation properly. My company also has a "warning" system. An employee would need to be put on a "program" to improve their performance first before they can be sacked.

Retrenchment is happening everywhere. In Europe, America and even in Singapore. And seriously, you think that the very first option for companies here to save money is to retrench staff? Retrenchment is usually done because they need to re-org or restructure because there are too many redundant roles in the organisation. Either that or they are out-sourcing certain functions. I definitely don't think it's a panic retrenchment. At least not for the bigger companies.

In the end, what I'm trying to say is that everything you've mentioned is happening everywhere in the world. Just because you don't know people who have had that experience doesn't mean it's not happening. There's nothing great about working in Australia, but there's nothing terrible like what you have mentioned as well. Just like the same as working in Malaysia, Singapore, London etc., you will definitely get your pros and cons. If you have so many ill feelings towards Australia in general, don't bother coming here. You will only make yourself feel miserable.

Wow, maybe your friends are exactly like you then. I can ask all of my friends working in Australia and I'm sure all of them will have more good to say about it.

Working in an Australian company based in Malaysia is not the same as working in Australia.

I'm focussing on your ill feelings towards Australia because there's absolutely no point in us telling you how we enjoy working here our share with you on the benefits of working here. You have a relative's/friend's/stranger's "experience" that life here is miserable to debunk us. On top of that, what's the point of finding out how good working in Australia is if you'll hate it here?! What works for 20-30-50-100 of us doesn't mean that it'll work out for you. Don't you get it?! If you have so many bad stories of migrating to Australia and have it pretty much set up in your mind that Australian system sucks, Australian bosses suck, Australian jobs not as good as Singapore/Malaysian jobs, then us telling you the good side is just a waste of our time.

My last reply to you. I really wanted to help you out but it's pretty clear to me that I've been wasting both our time. My last word of sincere advice to you, "Don't migrate to Australia".

Wow, just wow. I've given you links to look for jobs. Shown you that it's possible to find cheaper accommodation. Explained how the recruitment system here more or less works. And you can ask me that question. Wow. Some people are incredible. Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean I'm criticizing. Grow up man, it's a discussion.

Actually you are wrong. I came up with 2 points.

1. There are pros and cons where ever you work, be it Malaysia, Singapore, Australia etc.
2. What other people experienced in Australia is what they experienced and shouldn't be generalised. 10 people can have a bad experience and another 100 people can have good experiences, but doesn't mean that you'll have a good experience.

Anyway, it's not a myth for me. I'm here and I'm having a good time. How is that a myth? Again, I never said being here is the greatest thing ever. I still can't see myself being able to afford to buy a house any time soon but I'm still enjoying it here.

Ok and I was wrong. I said that earlier it was my last reply to you but I just had to reply. This is really my last 1.