IT is a well-trodden path, one that many have been taking. To them, it leads to the Land of Opportunity.
So they “leap off the plane” (or tiew fei kei, a Cantonese metaphor meaning illegal entry), taking the step in hope of a better life.
They become waiters, drivers or take on jobs in restaurants or the construction sector.
The early years are tough, both physically and emotionally. Home is usually the basement of the landlord’s house. There is no health insurance provided by their employers.
Besides having to cope with a new culture and long working hours, loneliness often hits those coming without their families.
Stories are aplenty about blistered hands and the sense of desolation that led to them later confiding to friends that they had wept silently.
One woman here has not seen her husband and two children for five years as she has not returned home to Malaysia.
But most of them seem content when asked to share their stories.
T.C., 43, a fruit deliveryman, has been working in the United States since 2000.
“I came here with my wife to visit relatives in New York. I wanted to check out the job prospects, too. A week after I arrived, I began looking for work,” he said.
His first job was as a furniture delivery guy. The pay was US$350 (RM1,190) a week but he made extra every day in tips.
“That felt good,” he recalled.
There was also no fear of being nabbed by immigration officers. “I was free to roam about.”
Work was tough, though. He had to lift heavy furniture, sometimes up to the fifth floor of a building.
There was no need for such hard labour in his previous job as manager of a furniture shop owned by his sister in Kuantan.
Back then, he earned about RM2,500 a month. With a house mortgage and two small children, it was a struggle to make ends meet.
Now, he sends about US$1,000 (RM3,400) back to Malaysia every month.
His mother-in-law takes care of his son and daughter, aged nine and 11, who he has not seen since arriving in the United States.
He had no trouble adapting to life in New York, although his command of English was limited. “I am always in Chinatown, anyway.”
“I have no regrets coming here. It’s a good place in which to earn a living. My only worry is my kids. I regret not applying for visas for them to come with me,” T.C. said.
He calls them three times a week, admitting that he is missing out on their growing-up years.
“I can only see them through videotapes sent to me. They have never asked when I would be coming home. Of course I am distressed that there is no closeness between us, but what can I do? I need to cari makan here,” he said.
Even his 80-year-old mother in Kuantan has never persuaded him to return. “In fact, she asked me not to go back as it is better for me to work here.”
T.C. said he never thought he would stay on so long.
Initially, he was thinking of spending just five years here.
But now he has no intention of returning to Malaysia, not just yet. “If it turns out that there really is no way for me to bring my children over here, then I might make plans to return,” he said.
“But still, it is hard to say what’s in store. As long as I can still hold a job, I guess I will remain in the United States.”
His wife works in the same fruit stall.
He spoke of friends who went home and started their own businesses. “One of them opened a telephone shop but the business went bust.”
Some of his friends have since returned to the United States.
Michael Chong, 46, was a rubber factory supervisor in Malacca, earning RM700 a month, when he decided to make the journey to New York in 1983.
His uncle, who was here earlier, had invited him to come over.
Chong’s first job, as a kitchen help, required him, among other things, to mop the floor, cut vegetables and cook the rice.
It was a 12-hour job. By the end of the first week, he wanted to take the next flight back to Malaysia.
Nevertheless, Chong persevered. His wife came to join him and they slogged away, not returning to his hometown in Perak in the first 10 years.
He worked for a Jewish boss for 16 years, helping him make sandwiches. “He saw that I was hardworking and helped me get a green card.”
Chong’s life is better now. He has been an insurance representative for the past two years.
“I never thought I would stay so long,” he said. “I had assumed that I would return home once I have saved enough money.”
His dream was to retire in Malaysia and the family did try to resettle in Malaysia in 1997.
“We bought a house in Ipoh. My wife went back with the kids. They stayed for eight months but could not adapt to things back home.”
The house was sold and everybody was soon in New York again. The family now owns a US$220,000 (RM748,000) double-storey house in Staten Island, a New York City borough.
“My three children (aged 16 to 21) are now getting a good education here,” he added.
It isn’t always a success story. Others are known to have become gamblers, squandering their money and returning to Malaysia with empty pockets.
Kwong Yoo, who is Malaysia Association of America president, said nobody could tell for sure the number of Malaysians who had “leapt off the plane,” although an oft-mentioned estimate for the tri-state region (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) was 40,000.
“They came in great numbers during the recession in the 1980s,” he said.
The numbers may have dwindled in recent years, he said, but the dream of a new – and better – life still beckons many.
