Bro, thanks for sharing.

Btw if you look back at my previous comment posted today at 10:58am, I said give me a reliable source , not from you or the media. Unfortunately the source you gave me is from the media, AsiaOne News....is it a Singaporean media? I guess it must be a S'porean media.
Due to press freedom policy, the media can always blow an issue out of proportion & exaggerate the whole issue. Singaporean media & politicians are known to paint a bad picture about Malaysia (don't get me wrong, I am not supportive of the current Msian govt). One good example was the comments / bad mouth from the S'pore govt about Malaysia being leaked by Wilkileaks owned by Julian Asange. It left the S'porean govt red-faced & had lots of explanation to make to the M'sian govt.

Just fyi, Australian politicians would never make a comment about any articles published by the media. It's because due to press freedom, the media can write whatever they want to write regardless whether the articles are true, partly true or not true at all. The media can simply make up any story just to add more spice to it. The aust politicians if being asked by reporters to comment on any media articles, they always give the same answer "This news is from the media, I don't want to comment".  

So come back to your link which was based from an unreliable media source. It says "Under Malaysian Law, those staying in the country illegally are subject to mandatory 6 lashes of cane, fine and up to 5 years in jail". Unfortunately it didn't tell the whole picture and maybe this is the way of their propaganda against Malaysia.

The truth is this penalty only applies to those WHO UNLAWFULLY RETURN TO MALAYSIA AFTER REMOVAL . The law didn't even mention the penalties to those who enter Malaysia illegally for the first time. It's obvious their particulars will be taken down & will be deported back immediately.

Also under the Malaysian Immigration law, those WHO UNLAWFULLY RETURN TO MALAYSIA AFTER REMOVAL, the penalties are:-
1) fine not exceeding RM10,000 OR
2) imprisonment not exceeding 5 yrs or both and 6 strokes of cane

Here's the link for you to see http://www.lawyerment.com.my/library/doc/i...1000000-6.shtml
The above is a reliable link taken from the immigration law library & NOT from media. Remember it didn't mention any penalties for first time offenders   

The AsiaOne News article also mentioned a London based group (but didn't say which group, they could be making up story again) said 34,943 whipping cases carried out for immigration offences between 2002 & 2008. Are they making up story again? first they didn't say which London group & secondly where the heck they get such an accurate figure of 34,943? do the prison authorities released that figures to them? or they just pick from the sky? Nobody knows how true it is.

Please do me a favour, congratulate AsiaOne News for succesfully exercising the freedom of press policy for giving a half but not fully misleading articles to the public.

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Added on October 20, 2011, 11:08 pm
Bro, hope you don't mind if I ask you one personal question. Why you want to come to Australia? isn't S'pore good enough for you?

Well, I think it won't be more expensive than living in the UK.
I'm not looking for jobs that pay per hour, I'm looking for full time, graduate jobs. I'm thinking of going there on a holiday visa (skip the hassle of applying for working holiday visa), and while renting a place to stay for perhaps 3 months, concentrating totally on job hunting. Then once got job offer, apply for work permit. I just don't know if that's legal, but this is how it works in Europe. Thinking of living on a student budget like RM 3k per month, so can get ready ±RM 10k to spend over 3 months in Australia.

The sad thing is I've no friends/families living in Australia.

I think you can only do odd jobs on working holiday visa... heard Malaysia allocation is finished until July 2013.

Hahaha technically you are correct but companies won't hire you on contract basis... unless their projects really short term... or maybe you are IT..

Wow don't be so offended my friend.. you got lucky friends, i got unlucky friends... so what's WRONG about sharing my side of the story?

I said technically you are correct, but practically not many companies offer temp positions... i never said you CAN'T work in the professional field ok?

"but companies won't hire you on contract basis"

Hahaha you quote partial of my sentence only leh... what about the latter half?? go read it again please..

Anyway sorry to upset you lah.. just forget it.. forum is about sharing information.. dun like it just ignore it.. 

Hahaha technically you are correct but companies won't hire you on contract basis... unless their projects really short term... or maybe you are IT..

State sponsorship : It makes up for the points, but one thing that you must bear in mind, is that you would have to work in that state. It's not that flexible compared to the normal PR.

that's what i heard apparently, that the higher the points, the better. as for the state sponsorship, if i'm not mistaken, the agent doesn't make any money from it. so how did you get your agent to do it for rm750? is there any website i can see to find what the standard price is supposed to be if i apply by myself?
funny thing is, my agent says that state sponsorship no longer requires one to work for 2 years in the nominated state. so apparently, all i have to do is pay for the state sponsorship and i can still work anywhere i want. anyone can confirm this? sounds weird to me.

Actually I think I'm eligible as long as I get that 60 points. The 2 years study thing has been changed and now contributes 5 points instead of being a requirement. The only thing is that, I would need an IELTS of 8 to get 60 points.

It still is a requirement for graduate visa though.
When your friends applied for PR? Was it recently?

To be awarded points for the Australian Study requirement you must have completed one or more degrees, diplomas or trade qualifications for award by an Australian educational institution as a result of a course or courses:

    that are registered courses
    that were completed in a total of at least 16 calendar months
    that were completed as a result of a total of at least two academic years study

My husband just got his PR last month. We went with spouse visa route, and he got it within 2 months.

We did the application ourselves, and cost around RM 6.6k Now planning the big move for early next year.

As referring to http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-ski...-table-grad.htm

Study Requirement is now under POINTS, no more under Basic Eligibility Req
Therefore, studying at Aus for 2 years just gives an additional 5 points. It is not a requirement. 

I've never taken an IELTS test before, so I really don't know the standard of my English.

For someone who has taken IELTS: How hard is it? How would you rate an average Malaysian's English level on the 9-point IELTS scale?

 
When you say decent, do you mean no grammatical or spelling errors at all in day-to-day speaking & writing?

I've never done IELTS before. I got my PR 10 years ago under General Skilled Migration category, when it was so much easier than now.

I think I'm applying for Visa 189. But my agent says I should get a state sponsorship with that visa, apparently it'll increase my chances. I don't even know if that makes any sense. And they're charging me AUD1200 for that. Really unsure where that figure comes from.

--

And regarding IELTS, I did mine in British Council Malaysia. If you register online, you get a free online course so you can get acquainted with the format. I scored an 8 (I'm a native English speaker). I did find that the test was pretty tricky though.

Melbourne is considerable but not sydney. Housing price is unbearable.
Well, I'm sticking with my purposes of going australia is to raise my children with quality time with them.
Sydney is a huge city which yeah lots of job opportunities. However, not the type of life i want. If heading there is with KL no difference.

why thank you for your comment and feedback. i tend to write as simple as i can.
1) Yes i know Perth is experiencing inflation in past few years. Mining has done alot on that.
2) I think job opportunity 1st then only choose which city to settle. Adelaide is good but activity bit slow. Brissy sounds good
3) Oh yah. my broken engrish making me unusual and unique lar i guess. IELTS still manage band 7 lor... (no offend...hehe)

I go to Mandarin Oriental KLCC and I can enjoy my cuppa with nice views of the city and its quiet.
You just need to fork out smtg like RM 20-30 for a cuppa.
If you have money, no problem

only the rent will kill you, other expenses is still considered alright..
as long as you are earning Oz$, you will be fine..
buying power here is high..

Fully agreed on this, I was in sydney for 2 years and the rental is extremely high. 2 bedroom apartment (non luxurious) at downtown will cost you 550 - 600/week. The rest i think is ok, food & clothing and some IT gadgets it think still reasonable. In the sense of dollar to dollar, I guess if you want to own a house, i think you still can buy a property within 30 km radius to city with 600k to 800k budget.
Compare to malaysia, this is totally different stories. A house could easily shoot up to 2mil to 3mil.

Yes, really. Unfortunately I don't snap pictures of receipt for the once in a very blue moon that i go drink cofee in MO. But if you agree to reimburse me for the cuppa, I'm more than pleased to show you 

nothing is cheap if you convert to malaysia ringgit. if you earn in australia, you can easily afford most of the stuff especially electronics. you can purchase sony 55" led tv for about $1500 but i don't think you can get the same model in malaysia for RM5k

also, you need to save your salary for 2 or 3 months to get the damn tv but only fortnight in australia(with fresh graduate average salary )

but the housing and electricity cost are not joking. expensive and will keep on increasing. large brick & mortars also pushing government to put GST on the item that over cost $500 in oversea shopping

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Added on December 17, 2012, 6:44 pm
australian like to compare the price to US/europe just like malaysian too.  i bought lot of things from oversea too(thanks to ozbargain) but the warranty is the major concern(although i never had any issues)

i'm not saying i can save $1.5k per fortnight. what i mean was $1.5k per fortnight is like $40-50k per annum which is normal for fresh graduate. let's say you earn $3k a month and after the rent and bills, you still can save at least $1k per month.
EDIT:Sorry, i should say that you can get the TV with fortnight salary(not save) compare to 3 months salary in malaysia

electricity is high but it comes in every 3 months(usually). carbon tax certainly increased another $100. i'm not sure how it works in singapore but i don't think you have some sort of EPF if you are not PR in singapore.

since you are staying here in Oz, im sure you are enjoying.. i mean in terms of buying power.. you dont have to save few months salary (back in MY) to get branded stuff.. like for myself, i need to think twice to get an expensive bag in MY, here i dont really need to do that..and its affordable..and im not converting at all.. stopped converting when u r in a foreign country when u r earning there..

- public transport to me is cheap, im paying $115 for 4 weeks in Melb Zone 1, unlimited access to bus, tram and train for 4 weeks..
- electricity comes every quarter, and my bill is about $450 and divide by 3months, about $100+ monthly which is almost the same back in MY (my electricity bill is RM100+ per month in KL)
- parking it really depends, i work in CBD, i can park for $14 whole day on early bird rate.. (enter by 10am exit after 4pm)
- petrol depends on which day u pump, its cheaper on wed/thur as suggested by locals here..but it also depends..
- tax is high, i agree, but at least u can see something being done by the government, which is better than MY.. (i cant give u examples, as i dun see anything significant that benefits me yet, but for families with kids, they do get benefits)

yes, i agree, dun expect bed of roses here in Oz, i do have friends that suffer and went back.. if you are single and already have a stable job and good income in MY, you will def suffer here, but if you move due to kids education, then its a different story, coz u will sacrifice so ur kids got better education, and ur family will have benefits..

btw.. i can save $1.5k fortnightly..but im not doing that every fortnight, coz im spending more coz stuff are cheap here :-)

just my own experience...