How is life for Pakistanis in Malaysia?

 Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th February, 2025 ) According to Pakistanis living in Malaysia, there are more decent job opportunities for them there. They are earning adequate money to meet the needs of their families there, which is not possible for them in Pakistan. The salaries of these people are between two and three thousand Malaysian ringgits per month (one thousand ringgit is approximately sixty thousand rupees).

Since we were tourists, most of our interaction was with cashiers, porters, watchmen and cleaning staff.

Many are also getting accommodation and two meals a day from their companies. They keep some money for their needs and send the rest to Pakistan. There are shops all over Malaysia that help workers and laborers coming to Malaysia from Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka to transfer money to their respective countries.

In Pakistan, workers barely feed themselves and their families. They do not get time or resources for entertainment. In Malaysia, these people were also spending money on their entertainment. Most of them had visited famous tourist destinations in Malaysia and even on their days off, they would plan to go somewhere in the city with friends. Apart from laborers and wage earners, many Pakistanis are also residing in Malaysia for employment and business.

Pakistani engineers, IT experts, and other professionals are working in various multinational companies in Malaysia.

According to the Bureau of Immigration and Overseas Employment, about 150,000 Pakistanis have migrated to Malaysia for employment from 1971 to 2025. In the year 2023, twenty thousand people went from Pakistan to Malaysia. A large number of Pakistani students are also residing in Malaysia.

In addition, the family members of these people are also there, due to which the number of Pakistanis in Malaysia may be higher than this estimate.

There are several reasons for the presence of a large number of Pakistanis in Malaysia. Malaysia is geographically close to Pakistan. Malaysia can be reached by a direct flight of six hours, while it is also easy to travel via Sri Lanka on a low budget.

Malaysia's economy is stable. There are more job opportunities there than in Pakistan and the standard of living is also better there.

The colors of Islamic culture in Malaysia are quite deep. Pakistani Muslims who move to Malaysia do not have to face much culture shock. They have to get used to living in a specific order of life, which is also necessary to adopt in other countries.

Malaysia is a multicultural country. It is inhabited by people of Malay, Chinese and Indian origin, as well as people from many countries of the world. Due to their combination, it is easier for people of any ethnicity to live in Malaysia than in countries with their own distinct identity and culture like China, Japan and Korea. Malaysia's visa policy for Pakistanis is also easy, due to which it is not very difficult for Pakistanis to go there.

You can live in Malaysia on a low budget, but you may need more money to live a decent life. Therefore, only white-collar workers or business people can afford to live here with their families.

Living in Malaysia without a job can be expensive. That is why many people whose contracts expire return to their countries from Malaysia.

Obtaining Malaysian citizenship is also a bit difficult, so people prefer to live there for some time and then go to a country where they can get citizenship after a few years.

Malaysia is also safe for women. Women can be seen on the streets until late at night, sitting in cafes drinking coffee and chatting with their friends. I stayed near the famous twin towers of Kuala Lumpur.

When I went out to see the towers at night, there were many women around who were sitting there carefree and looking at the towers.

Malaysia offers its locals and foreigners the life of any developed country. Perhaps for this reason, many Pakistanis like to move to Malaysia when they get the chance.

Note: The opinions expressed in any blog, comment or column of DW Urdu are the personal opinions of the author, with which DW does not necessarily agree.