Late 90s was the first time for me to hear about Malaysia beside what I'd learnt from school. My aunt went back home for good and shared her experience living in Malaysia to us. Apart from what I knew from geography book and world map that we had in classroom, I had no idea where Malaysia really was. Based on the map I could see that it located next to Sumatera Island, the place where I lived. It seemed like not too far away on the map but in reality it was a far far away land to me and most people in my neighbourhood at that time. Back then there were not so many people visited Malaysia and if they did, normally because they worked as labours in factories. However they did not travel too often. It would be only 2 way trips, at the very beginning and at the end of their contract. Only rich people traveled to Malaysia for holiday trips or other occasions and in fact that was not a common thing to happen, at least for us in my neighbourhood. Why was that the case?
Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Many reasons why it was the condition back then. One of them because of costly airplane. Only very rich would spend their money for holidays. Moreover, complicated regulations and rules about passport, visa and other necessary documents limited people to make a visit. Lack of information or knowledge about the destination and it's importance also affected the condition. All of these reasons made Malaysia remained out of reach for most people. It was a too far away country.
Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia
(src: google image)
By the time the condition has changed significantly. Nowadays many people travel to Malaysia for different reasons. Some for holiday trips, medical check-up and health treatment, visiting families and relatives, working and many other occasions. This condition is interesting to watch and sometimes I wonder why. It is really the opposite condition to what I remember years ago. I tried to make my personal analysis and made own conclusions. There are things that change significantly now. On one hand, competition among airplanes. Increasing number of airplanes creates competition among them. It forces the airplanes to offer the ticket at the lower price. On the other hand, income improvement of many people. Better income of most people changes their lifestyle and needs. Now not only rich people can afford for holiday trips to Malaysia, medium income people can do that also.
Islamic Center ( Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Indonesia)
(src: google image)
Moreover, better income also opens the access and gives flexibility for people to visit Malaysia for other occasions. More and more people in my region (Aceh) travel to Malaysia for medical check-up and health treatment. Some visit their families and relatives in Malaysia more often now and some workers regularly go back home to Aceh during holidays. This condition also stimulates by flexible rules and regulations that improved by both countries. Regional agreements make it easier for people to deal with passports and other legal papers. Technology also plays the role in giving the impact to the changing condition. Easy access to ticketing through online purchasing gives not only opportunities to have new experiences of travelling but also flexibility in time and lower price as well.
There are many flights from different airplanes that regularly fly to Malaysia from various airports in Indonesia nowadays. For instance: Sultan Iskandar Muda (SIM) International airport in Aceh, Kuala Namu International airport in North Sumatera, Minangkabau International (BIM) airport in West Sumatera, and many other airports outside Sumatera Island. This trend affects to airplane traffic and of course habits and needs of the people in Indonesia, especially who live in Sumatera. Furthermore, the changing of habits and needs or in other word we can say the lifestyle absolutely changes the way people perceive Malaysia as ''abroad'' or foreign country. Now, many people do not really see Malaysia as a far far away land anymore. Since it is easily reachable and accessible now, it feels close enough and is getting closer than ever.
