Where’s the “Culture” in Cross-Cultural Transition?

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I just read an article about a research conducted on the psychological and sociocultural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions in two groups of sojourners consisting of – Malaysian and Singaporean students in New Zealand and Malaysian students in Singapore.

The results revealed that Malaysian and Singaporean students in New Zealand experienced greater social difficulty than Malaysian students in Singapore which is to be expected as Singapore and Malaysia share similar culture.

However, what is disturbing is that the study went on to explain that the first group of students experienced an entire array of feelings associated with relocating and fitting in to new cultures including a mixture of confusion, excitement, sorrow, anxiety, pain, enjoyment, fear, anger, stress, emptiness, frustration, lack of identity, lack of direction and even feelings of guilt.

After having lived abroad for many years, I must admit that I too experienced culture shock when I returned to live in Malaysia for a couple of years in 1981.

So, I am wondering how hard it has been for those of you who choose to make the move to Malaysia? Care to share your experience, especially how you overcome the sense of alienation or being different.
 

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Do you know that most of us are so thrilled at the thought of moving to a new country, especially a country like Malaysia that offers so much such as exotic location, low cost of living, hours of sunshine, English speaking, great infrastructure, etc, etc that we put all our energy and focus into the logistics of moving that we forgot to build/plan our new life??? 

So, my tip is that several months before you move, dedicate at least one hour a week to build/plan your new life – friends, activities, researching where to live, etc. Taking action on these critical needs before you relocate will give you a foundation to build upon, and that will leave you less overwhelmed, especially your spouse/partner who probably get dragged into your enthusiasm of relocating to Malaysia.