One Malaysian now calls Darkhan, Mongolia home

MALAYSIAN G. JMalaysian G. Jayamaran and his family will move into their new apartment just opposite the one they are staying in now in the small city of Darkhan in Mongolia, once renovations on their new abode are completed.

Jayamaran, or better known as Raja who was born in the small town of Rantau in Seremban, is happy with his career and life in the place he now calls his permanent home.

The third largest city in Mongolia with a population of only 75,000, Darkhan does not boast fancy skyscrapers and shopping centres like those in Kuala Lumpur.

The choice of food served by the restaurants in this Mongolian city are comparatively limited, the most common being mutton-based dishes, Russian stews and burger.

Leisurely activities in Darkhan usually means camping by the river or staying in yurts (traditional tents used by Mongolians).

“In Mongolia, life is not stressful,” said the 42-year-old Jayamaran. “Life here is more fun and free.”

It is the simple lifestyle in Darkhan that he enjoys most.

Jayamaran works at the Amega Global office in Mongolia, which markets wellness products in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China, Russia, Kazakhstan and South Korea.

He also runs two restaurants which serves Malaysian food — Asian Kitchen — in Darkhan and Russia’s Yakutsk city.

After working in Singapore for a few years, Jayamaran was posted to the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator in 1992. His job was to supply laptops to the Mongolian Parliament House and provide maintenance and training services.

He then joined a non-governmental organisation — the Mongolian Development Centre — to lead a community development project which taught people in the suburbs to cultivate spinach, tomatoes, corn and beans, and to eat healthily.

It was during one of his trips for the project that he met his Mongolian wife, Dansranjav Erdenebileg. They married in 1996 and now have two sons aged nine and 15.

After working on the project for eight years, Jayamaran was roped in by the Mongolian Alternative Centre to develop a programme designed to empower herdsmen with entrepreneurial skills.

These men would offer tour packages in which tourists could experience the nomadic lifestyle by staying in yurts, travelling from one place to another and herding animals.

“I travelled to small towns and villages within 22 aimag (states in Mongolian). I helped the herdsmen create routes with a radius of 15km and run them as a business.

“While they enjoyed the extra income, we did not want them to change their lifestyle and tradition,” Jayamaran recalled. He spent a great deal of time with the herdsmen, learning the Mongolian language and culture.

“The herdsmen are friendly people and if you visit their yurt, they will invite you to stay there and serve you food for free. “Mongolians respect their parents a lot, take care of them and will not abandon them when they age,” he said.

Jayamaran encountered some problems when his sons’ schoolmates were unfriendly towards them because of their skin colour. But after they interacted with each other, his sons were accepted by their peers.

Amid the global recession in 2009, the Mongolian economy experienced turbulent times and Jayamaran contemplated returning to Malaysia. “At one point, my wife said why not return? But I insisted that we would be better off here. Now I think she is glad that we made that decision,” he said.

He could draw a parallel between Darkhan and Rantau as both places are small and quiet with only a few public transportation coming from the city centres of Ulan Bator and Kuala Lumpur.

He did not show any hints that he would return to Malaysia for good one day.

“It feels safer living in Mongolia. Whenever I go back, I stay only with my mother and visit my siblings and relatives.

“When I come back, I feel like a tourist. After a while, I want to return to Mongolia,” he said.

According to him, Darkhan residents do not have to worry about healthcare and social security.

Their income is sufficient to pay for the basic necessities and most of them need not pay for any medical treatment at hospitals.

SOURCE OF THIS ARTICLE : TheStar Online

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