Dealing with loneliness in Malaysia

Nothing normal life

Go to gym

Hi Priscilla,

Yes, I understood how you are feeling about your loneliness. Here are some of the tips that may help you.

1. What are some potential factors that lead to loneliness when moving to Malaysia?

You feel loneliness just because you are far away from your hometown moreover you are new to this place. You are not sure about the rules and regulations of the country and you are not bound to do which you were doing while you are living in your home country. These are the factors that you will have in your mind and also have an insecure feeling as well.

2. How do you deal with feelings of loneliness?

Yes, I do accept that loneliness is one of the Major factors that will eat yourself, on top of that if you do not have a job then it doubles your loneliness and eagerness to get a job. These are quite natural for all the human beings. In these situations, you have to find a way which motivates yourself. Like for instance when I was in Malaysia I used to go swimming in the evening time. In the morning time, I used to look for opportunities online like Linkedin and connecting new people. I am not sure how you handle it depends on each person but overall as a person, I used to do these activities to deal with my loneliness and call my family in a daily basis that makes you feel comfortable when someone is outside the country. In fact, I used to talk to my friends and tried to get new friends as well.

3. Is it easy to expand or create a social network in Malaysia?

Yes, of course, you can use Linkedin that's the best tool that you can use professionally if you are searching for a job.

4. Are there any activities or events that encourage social meetups and networking opportunities?

I am not sure since I didn't look for any.

Thanks and Regards
Retheesh.R

Just go and meet new people.
I hope you will find new friends here.

This isnt easy to answer because there is no perfect solution to being lonely. If you are the lonely type, a person, activity or location isnt going to change that. Its easily possible to feel lonely whether you are with one person or 100 people in a group. Secondly, if you are the homesick type then wherever you are your loneliness will double, and if you suffer from depression your loneliness will triple.

What can help? Therapy can help, drugs can help, phone calls home can help, WALKING can help, but to my mind a necessary component to lessening the effects is to live in an environment that is calming and comfortable while doing the work you actually enjoy. If you have the unhappy qualities above and were stuck in Malaysia against your choice and in a job you never liked, while having a boss you despise, the effects of loneliness will only increase.

Expats came to Malaysia for all kinds of reasons. For those that like the place and their jobs, and they made some friends who add to their life, the effects of loneliness will be as low as non-medical intervention can give, low enough that you can simply live with it. But if you are truly unhappy here and feel yourself too lonely, work towards getting out and go home or go somewhere else. Life is too short to be perpetually unhappy.

Start a new hobby, go to language classes, join social improvement movements, attend religious or charity events, etc. In Malaysia Facebook is one of the best tools to network with other people. There are lots of groups to join. The main requirement to avoid loneliness is to look outwards not inwards.

Start a new hobby.
study russian language  or
Learn how to cook meat in different ways

Close u eyes think about three activities that makes u happy (drinking parties sex not included) like (golf playing music gym tennis writing reading etc.) once u pick those just do them study them cherish them... Be around people who share these same passions...
    Put bubble around u only let kind empathetic warm giving people inside... let mean hateful people bounce off .... develop ability how to recognise the difference between these people... Trust your instincts....
     Basically take control of your circle of friends that surround you....Good Luck....🤙

I moved to Malaysia and found a great language school where I started learning French. There are lots of people that shared my interest for the language and we often did trips to restaurants and activities. This weekend i'm going white water rafting with some of the other students and the French teacher! I would suggest trying to take a language course there as they have some good activities: [link moderated]

Great topic for a few pickup replies. Fantastic choice of topics, really. Next?

Amazing topic .. we can make meetups in KL ..

Well, as a world traveler, traveling across the globe non stop, from country to country, traveling one way, living as a nomad up to 3 months in the country of my choice; I think, to combat loneliness is to get involved, volunteer, find english speaking groups, meet up etc. I'm a very friendly person and make friends easily, this is a must, it's not an option. If you say you're not like that or cannot talk to anyone at any given time, then you will be lonely; being friendly is the key to avoiding loneliness. I branched out and found many who spoke english; not necessarily from Malaysia, but many, most were other travelers and visitors.

Find places to volunteer, there is a  home for homeless children next to the zoo there in malaysia ran by 4 sisters who speak very good english and make very good friends. When I met them they were so welcoming and inviting, 4 friendly sisters who were malaysians.  Join some churches, this is a start, you may frown on this, but if you do then enjoy your loneliness, Lol,

This is a start, you'll be surprised of how many people you meet in churches and how nice and welcoming they can become; get to know them and you'll find your loneliness diminishing.  Fortunately for expats, English is widely spoken in Malaysia and English is actively known as a second language. It is easy to live in urban areas of Malaysia by only speaking the English language. Business in Malaysia is conducted in English and examinations are based on British English. Spoken English in Malaysia is heavily influenced with American English because of the television influence; normally, not knowing the language can be a contributing factor to loneliness. If you get a chance, no, not if you get a chance, Lol, take a walk down a busy street, or listened attentively to the people around you in restaurants and shopping malls. Chances are you might feel a little overwhelmed by the various different languages and dialects you hear in Malaysia.

The languages in Malaysia are the result of the many races residing there. The three main races in Malaysia are the Malays, Chinese and Indians. There are also other indigenous groups residing in East Malaysia. So, perhaps you have to change your location, you don't have to be lonely, learn the language. What I find in the countries is that when the natives see that you are trying to did speak their language, there is a certain level of appreciation and sometimes they will help more.

I received lots of help when I live in Rome, because I was serious about learning Italiano, just enough to get by and I gain so many friends. I had people talking to me in their language even when I told them I didn't quite understand what they  were saying to me, but when I spoke in their language, " non so cosa stai dicendo," it didn't matter LOL. I tell  people when they travel, it's a courtesy to learn a bit of their native tongue, you don't have to be fluent.

There's a plethora of things you can do, you just have to be creative, somewhat outgoing, friendly;  things like what, okay, how about starting a book club, an exercise group, a cooking club, walking, running, biking, big sister/brother, little sister/brother, crochet, knitting, quilting, a support group, woman on the move group, coffee group; use your skills, your knowledge, share information develop these simple groups/clubs or whatever you want to called them; ask yourself, talk to your self, assess your own skill set, think about how it will work for others. Start your own language group,youtube will teach you the language for free, gather a group together to learn online, start simple, speak to each other, remember where you  left off and continue, you must be discipline, start an english teaching class for free, maybe based on donations only; start a board game night (there are so many board games), a coffee bean bingo at the local church, library or park, how about a netflix movie night or day with popcorn or something. Teach what you've learned, life it too short to be lonely as a Registered Nurse this loneliness can lead into depression.

I have been a motivational speaker/teacher/counselor and life coach for a while now and I have yet to see anyone fail at their endeavors when they put forth an effort. We fail ourselves in many cases/instances; well, allow me to help you with a passing grade.

Loneliness is in response to the need to belong. to conversate, to have laughter, Interpersonal (groups/clubs) relationships gives us emotional health: we can share our problems/issues, we can laugh and have a good time, we can learn more about ourselves, others and each other.

But, when interpersonal relationships/interactions are absent (new locations), loneliness occurs. loneliness is  a painful reminder that we are not getting the desired relationships (friends, associates) we need. Sometimes loneliness is referred to as social pain, because it is a pain that results from social isolation. And, like hunger, the only way to be truly satisfied is to find those interpersonal relationships that will satisfy our need; we need to sleep so we go to bed, we need to clean ourselves so we take showers, we need clean clothes so we do the laundry, we need to eat so we get food, we need to not be lonely so we get a life/relationships, simple.

I chose to spend my life traveling the globe, I was a emergency room nurse, I was a license and ordained pastor, a business operator and owner(left nursing to open to full line bakeries). Graduate and postgraduate, why, because I've always wanted to teach and help people in many ways. I love people, well most people, I'm a huge kid so I tend to get along with most. I've heard people say life is hard, but I say life is what you make it. I saw my life a a fish in a fish bowl, swimming back and forth but never having a destination. I also saw my life as an assembly line worker, the same old things, day after day, after day. Well it was the major auto accident that I was in that woke me up out of my robiotic zombieness, LOL.

I decided to finally live my life for me, no more nursing, no more crisis counseling, no more rape victim advocacy counseling, no more pastoral counseling, no more feeding sweets counseling, Lol, but I will never stop motivating, encouraging, sharing and showing love.

Malaysia is where I plan to retire, but I have about 100 more countries to visit; my plans are to open up a small donut shop. I loved Malaysia when I was there, but I say that about every country, I visit, LOL.
I hope I was able to share a  light on loneliness and how you can combat this enemy while living abroad. My skills are God given and my travel life is also God given/allowed/enabled etc

***