Living le moment in Malaysia

Grun at the Malaysian Rainforest festival.

WHILE living in a foreign country sounds exciting and adventurous, it can sometimes be difficult to assimilate into the local culture.

Living in a foreign country can prove to be a positive life-altering experience if you know how to approach it.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, is a multilingual city with a vibrant melting pot of cultures. It is home to some 100,000 expats and the number is steadily growing.

Alison Grün, 31, came to Malaysia on assignment two and a half years ago. She stumbled upon good friends and a great lifestyle, and made a decision to stay on.

She started “The Trybe”, a supportive community for expat women entrepreneurs, knowing how difficult it can be for an expat to assimilate into the culture here.

The main objective of The Trybe was to inspire, develop and sustain expat women’s business and personal growth while having fun, because she believes “women can have it all”.

It aims to ease the life of women professionals and entrepreneurs by offering them a compassionate, supportive and collaborative community, combined with services adapted to their specific needs.

This is based on three main pillars: fun activities such as monthly afterwork cocktails, sports/arts activities and wellbeing services; presentations and workshops; and business support.

Gregory Bouchet, 25, moved to Malaysia in search of adventure, opportunities and professional challenges. He felt that Malaysia would be an easier transition as English is widely spoken here.

“That means there would be one less barrier for me,” he said.

While the prospect of moving abroad and exploring a different country is exciting, it is not without its challenges.

Making the transition takes time, and adjusting to different working styles could be very trying for some.

Bouchet recalled his first few weeks here: “What was most difficult for me was adapting to the weather and humidity which took me a whole month to get used to. The biggest differences are the food and work cultures. French people like ‘square’ processes, with lots of rules and paperwork. It’s definitely not like that in Malaysia!”

Grün also shared the same sentiment about Malaysia’s makan lifestyle: “Initially, the hardest thing for me to adapt to was the lack of service culture, and the laissez-faire attitude of Malaysians towards getting work done.

“Although both our cultures value food a lot, we see it in vastly different ways. Meals for the French are key moments to share and appreciate with our friends over three meals a day. Malaysians, on the other hand, simply eat all the time!”

They both agreed that the key to surviving as an expat abroad was to be flexible and open, and connect more with others around you, both locals and other expats alike.

Aside from differences in language and social norms, local holidays will also be different. Bastille Day is not celebrated here.

“The French are rebellious and very strong in our culture, and that is what Bastille Day represents. Back home we would have fireworks and party with friends, but here, we celebrate with fellow expats at the embassy with delicious French food and wine,” Grün said.

Like most of us in Malaysia, the French love their parties too. With Bastille Day coming up on July 14, the French celebrate Bastille Day more as a day of celebration, rather than remembering it as the day of the French Revolution.

According to Bouchet, back home they would stay up to have drinks with family and friends to watch the fireworks at midnight.

“Over here, it’s more about gathering with the local French community in a nice French restaurant, speaking in French, eating cheese and drinking. Gives us a little taste of home.”

The French are known for appreciating the finer things in life, so it’s no surprise that Bouchet sees “Le Moment” as making the time to relax and change the pace of the day.

There’s an abundance of nice restaurants and bars to go to in the city and since Malaysia is right smack in the middle of South-East Asia, it only takes a few hours by flight from many other countries, so travelling around is easy.

“Living in the moment is very important, and I was reminded of this message when I moved to Malaysia because I believe Malaysians share this sentiment as well – they take things one at a time and enjoy the moment,” concluded Grün.

Experience French culture this July with Kronenbourg and join in the celebration of Bastille Day and Pause for Le Moment at The Square, Publika from 5pm to midnight on July 14 and 15.

For details on Kronenbourg, visit https://www.facebook.com/KronenbourgMY/ and follow Kronenbourg Ambassadors on instagram@kronenbourgmy