The Beginning

I am a Malaysian, aged 64. I have been living in Ireland both North & South since 1987. But I have been here before to study in 1965 and then went back and worked and started a business, but more about that later. As I said, I came to Ireland in 1987 with my wife and children.I want to write about my past experiences because I want to tell people what life was like in Malaysia in years gone by. I will start on this post with Kampong Bahru.

KB is well known throughout Malaya as it was known then, for various reasons. I remembered at the time, if you were driving and hit someone in KB - you better run! I wanted to write this series, to share with people in Malaysia what life was like and about. I had various happy memories growing up. KB was very idyllic and laid back. KB was a village at that time and growing up in KB was a very good experience for me. My family had good friends there and we helped each other in so many ways. Life was simple and everything was cheap.

I have quite a lot of memories to share with you. Fond memories of KB which is not there as it was anymore. The house that I grew up is gone and flats are in their place.I also want write about living in a foreign country and although I have been here for some time and even been here as a student (it is a good experience, I can write about life in MY in the sixties and life here now).

In the early sixties when I was a student here, things were good and bad. It was the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland but life was also inexpensive. Now the cost of living here in Ireland is quite high. I would like to share what life is like in Ireland - a foreign person living in a different country with different values. For a long time I felt alienated - I was always aware of being different. Life as a foreigner here can be difficult but the people here are nice and helpful. I am also disabled and in a wheelchair. The health system has also really helped me a lot. I feel properly looked after, medically.