Day 1

I flew to Sibu on a MAS airplane (I can claim for transport) on 15 Dec 2011. Upon arrival a friend of a friend of my father’s picked me up at the airport. Upon arrival at the airport there were construction works going on, therefore it was a rather uncomfortable experience having to wait in line for immigration. For those of you Malaysians who have never been to Borneo, you have to present your passport/IC to the immigration officer upon arrival. The officer will then issue a leave of stay receipt that you should re-present to immigration upon departure from Sarawak. This is rather odd considering Sarawak has been part of Malaysia for more than half a decade. I’m sure half my patients in Kajang who were from Indonesia didn’t go through as much hassle as this when they entered the country in their boats.

The plane that took me to Sibu

My father’s friend’s friend then helped me look for a hotel to stay after which he took me to the hospital. I initially booked for 2 days as i figured that I may need the extra day to move in the new quarters.

At the hospital I reported in to Pn Norlia the administrative assistant for medical officers. As I was not issued any document from JKN Sarawak in Kuching I submitted the ministry’s letter. The Pengarah, Timbalan Pengarah, and Pemangku Pengarah were all not in so I didn’t get to know which department I will be posted to on my first day. At any rate I was to settle my work permit first before starting work anyway. Wait, what? What work permit? I need a work permit? I’m working for the Malaysian Ministry of health, not the bloody NHS. Why do I need a work permit?

Hospital Sibu

“Ni Dr bawak surat ini ke Jabatan Imigresen untuk dapatkan work permit ya,”

“Errr satu hal lagi, itu hari saya ada call pasal kuarters?”

She then put me in contact with the relevant personnel;

“Ooo kuarters ada, Dr datang esok untuk isi borang dia nanti minggu depan tunggu kelulusan,”

What? Minggu depan? It was a Thursday and ‘minggu depan’ meant at least another 4 days. At least the hotel stay costs only RM45 a night but that place is way too far in town.

“Dr betul ke nak tinggal di kuarters? Biasanya dr kita sewa rumah di luar,”

“Kalau ada yang dekat boleh la saya sewa di luar terus. Saya takde transport buat masa ni so kalau duduk luar tu susah sikit la,”

“Ada satu dekat Tmn Permai, depan hospital ni, RM280 sebulan, tapi rumah yang kat belakang la,”

“Walking distance ke?”

“Kalau nak jalan jauh sikit la. Lepas tu ada anjing. Kalau lari laju boleh kot,”

Great, if I want to rent somewhere close I have to outrun the dogs to get to work? I’m from KL! I don’t do walking to work! Do you know how unfit I am? I take elevators to the 1^st floor. That’s what Klang Valley people do!

“Takpe hotel tu nanti boleh claim,” That afforded me a bit of a relief.

Immigration

So we went to immigration with En Bong an IT officer who also transferred in the same day as I did to get my work permit. As I was unprepared for this I did not bring my passport with me (which I needed to get the permit) and had to return the next day.

Bus ride

I decided to take the bus back to the hotel as I knew I would have to familiarise myself with it if I were to commute to town on a regular basis (taxi here has a starting fare of RM10, and there’s no meter – well there is a meter inside but no one uses it).

At the bus stop I met quite a decent looking chap and casually asked him (in Malay, which is a dead giveaway that I’m not from around here, not to mention in my accent) which bus I should take to get to the market (the hotel is near the market). After which the wind blew from his direction and I could smell alcohol from his breath! At 5pm! Instantly I thought to myself “Shit, bad idea. Quick look the other way. Maybe he’ll forget that I actually tried to talk to him!”

“Mau pergi pasar ka? Bas 5A. Aku juga mau pergi pasar. Awak bayar tambang aku boleh? Aku juga mau pergi pasar,”

Crap, too late.

As is the tradition of mildly drunk people at a bus stop, this guy couldn’t stop talking to me. He even tried to sell me his shoes for RM10! It was at this moment that I realised Sibu is not another small town in provincial Malaysia. It is in fact a small city with people who should be approached like in any other small city – there’s a variety of them and its best to quickly learn their ways.

Needless to say I did pay for his bus fare to the market as I didn’t want any trouble on a bus with a drunken guy. I thought I had my fair share of drunks on a bus back in Newcastle but apparently not. I did not buy his shoes though...

The busses in Sibu are like those old mini busses and Len Seng busses in KL. They still have conductors, they still don’t have air conditioning, and they still feel like riding a camel (yes, I have rode a camel before).

Hotel

If there is such a thing as ‘Shady Hotel Capital of Malaysia’ , Sibu must be it. There has got to be more cheap hotels per square mile in Sibu than in anywhere else that I’ve ever been to.

I stayed at a place called Perdana Inn. When I first checked in, I didn’t get the chance to properly inspect the room as we were in a hurry to get to the hospital. When I returned that evening a realisation as to how shady the place was dawned upon me.

When I entered the bathroom there was rag on the sink. The hotel staff must’ve forgotten to remove it after cleaning the place. To my horror there were cockroaches crawling out of the rag when I switched on the light! The air conditioning was working but the controls looked as if someone had smashed it open. The view outside was of an ugly pink building despite the place being actually visible from the Rajang waterfront. And then there was this lingering smell of cigarettes...

As I sat on the bed that evening I summarised my situation up to that point; I had no place to stay in the long run, I had no work permit, I didn’t know anyone here, everyone speaks in a language I dont understand, and I’m going to be sleeping with cockroaches that night. Suddenly this whole ‘let’s go to work in Sarawak’ thing seemed like a very bad idea...

Coackroaches came out of that rag. THAT rag!!