The bottom line is, if you are really good at what you're doing, and those skills are in demand, then it will be relatively easy for you to survive in Australia, for there will be tough competition from other highly skilled, local or international workers.

Having said that, there are a few aspects that are way better than in Malaysia:
- education: rest assured, your children will be getting quality education and better access to world-leading universities.

- safety: it is much much safer to walk on the streets here at night (of course there are still places one should avoid) than in many major cities in Malaysia. Unlike Malaysia, police actually respond to calls and protect the people.

- people's mentality: in large cities, people are generally more 'civilised' in manner. The younger generations actually abhor racial prejudice, a problem still rampant among many Malaysians. Racial harmony is way better than Malaysia anyday.

- equality: No more discrimination from your own government, no more second-class citizen treatment. If you have PR then you basically get the same rights as the Australians.

This post has been edited by tester: Dec 31 2011, 12:11 AM

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This post has been edited by tester: Jan 12 2012, 12:26 PM

You "fool" your potential employers with your impressive qualifications, with your superior intellectual capacity, with your excellent communication skill (preferably with impeccable English), with the invaluable expertise and experience that you can bring to the company and with positive attitude and motivation.

If you think a job interview is about race then you've got it all wrong then!

The largest barrier you're going to face in Australia is perhaps the lack of a PR visa, which makes many employers hesitant to hire you. However, being really good at what you're doing (preferably with your skills in demand and having an Australian qualification and of course, excellent grades) and an excellent communicator can substantially improve your chances of getting hired.

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Added on January 13, 2012, 6:15 pmLet's not turn this into the Australia vs Singapore thread as I find it extremely naive for one to judge which country is "better" based on generalisations alone.

I am certain that Singapore is a great country with many career opportunities. However as others have said, these are two very different countries. Many factors go into play here, eg. career growth and prospect, the specific skill sets you have, the saturation of workforce in your field, work/life culture, long-term expectations (many people migrate to Australia primarily for the sake of their children's future) etc.

Having said that, I'm not going to compare Australia with Singapore as I have not lived in the latter, but the misconception regarding Australia here warrants some clarification.

Tight immigration law thanks to the people who exploited the system over the years. Gone were the days where taking a hairdressing course makes you an eligible PR. Now they prefer someone who bring certain expertise and skill sets that are in demand. (Although I don't like some of the stupid rules set by policy makers who don't really know what they're doing, I'd rather it tighter than bring in people who actually can't contribute much)

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. I wonder which part of Australia have you been living in? My guess is that you never lived here at all.

Asian firms? You mean the Big 4 like KPMG? Engineering firms like Motorola and IBM? Seriously, in the financial sector, especially in the Big 4, Asians (both locals and immigrants) make up as many as 50% of the workforce there! So are the major engineering firms where you'd be surprised if you don't see half of them are immigrants from East Asia, India or the Middle East. And yes, many of them made it to the managerial levels, although non-native English speakers can have a hard time going further up (director and above), but that doesn't mean they are not there.

Just to pull a random example (in fact, so random that I don't know how it came to my mind), the past president of Australian Computer Society (ACS) was a Chinese, and the one before him an Indian.

If we're talking about the really high level position eg. directors/CEOs, remember that Australia is a 90% Caucasian country, and the majority of Asian immigrants have only been here since the 90s, it's more of a demographic problem rather than discrimination (although I will not deny discrimination does happen, so is everywhere else). Also at this level it's more about political ties and nepotism rather than your skills (which also happens in many other places), though you can still find some first-generation immigrants with exceptional credentials made it there. Similarly, most of the local Australians will never make it to this level in their lifetime.

I don't know about Singapore but I'm all for social democratic policies. You pay your tax which in turn is invested in education, healthcare, infrastructure, social welfare and contribution to the community.

I'm sure Singapore is a very safe country to live in. In regard to Australia, cities such as Melbourne/Sydney are also some of the safest places to live in. I don't think there are much differences there.

(Disclaimer: Crime does happen, no matter where you live, so individual experience may differ.)

Don't know about this one. Very much dependent on your field, your expertise and your expectations.

It is exactly this sort of mindset that has baffled me for a long time. If you think people out there are always discriminating you based on your race, then it makes you no different than a racist, actually. I've heard that Asian immigrants are even more racist than the white people, and now I tend to believe this may perhaps be true after all. "If I didn't get anything I want, then it must be because of my race!" (ironically applicable to Malaysia though, because racism is institutionalised and openly practised by the government) Sadly I've seen many immigrants playing this sort of victim mentality (inferiority complex?). Attitude like this actually reminds me of people that always lay the blame on other people, it's NEVER their fault or inadequacy.

Not to mention that your preconception about "people not welcoming you" is completely wrong. If they don't welcome you, probably because they see nothing valuable in you (no offence, some skills may have been saturated), but to say it's race just proves that you never have lived here and integrate with the local society.

Judging from your other posts here, you seem to have problem with white people... what's wrong with them actually? I actually find them more friendly than many Asians, who tend to give you some WTF look when you approach them.


This post has been edited by tester: Jan 13 2012, 06:15 PM

I just read his earlier replies posted a few months back.

With this kind of attitude no wonder he always feel like he was being racially discriminated, and that he was not welcomed in Australia. It has nothing to do with his race, nobody likes an arsehole, period.

I agree with Def on this: perhaps you could enlighten us on how you managed to work for 3 years in a very respectable bank without a PR?

I would take your "Australian experience" with a grain of salt before you offer a satisfying explanation.

Somehow you conveniently ignored (even disagreed) with my point that you have to be VERY good to survive decently in Australia, which was the crux of my initial post. If you are more on the mediocre side and has nothing valuable to offer, then of course you are going to struggle.

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Unlikely on a 457, since it is for the import of workers whose specialised skills cannot be found in Australia.

If he has graduated from an Australian institution, it simply means that Australia is already producing workers with the skills of interest, and therefore can hardly qualify for a 457.

I find it funny that some people think they somehow "deserve" to be hired, as if the employer in Australia has any obligation to hire them, and when that didn't happen, it must be their race that prevents them from getting the job.

To be honest, in a competitive environment, only those who are highly skilled deserve to be employed, and there are many skilled workers in Australia (which is why PR is usually given only to those skills in demand), not to mention that you are also competing with the locals, who have the advantage over you in that without a PR means you can't work for more than two years in the country.