Thank you SIA

Today I went out with my old colleagues. We talked about how we have been since we last saw each other on our girls only trip.

I learnt that their school is still two teachers short and they haven’t been successful in getting one that would fit the school and accept the salary they are offering. They asked if I would like to come back and since they are desperate, they might be able to be flexible with the contract as well. Tempting, but I don’t know if it is a good idea even if I left on good terms.

The conversation then went down the path of money. Since 31 August is a national holiday, the school may not pay their salary until the next day. On the off chance that the owner decided to be nice, everyone started checking their bank account. I did the same as the school still owes me my contract completion bonus, flight reimbursement and relocation fee.

I was happy when I saw a huge jump in my bank balance, even more surprised that it came from Singapore Air. HSBC has cleared their deposits, which means I can now look and book for another ticket to Brisbane and actually pay for it.

After reading what other people have gone through with airlines, I am glad that I received the refund. I had to email them twice to get it, both times I was polite and thank them when they had done something to help me get my refund.

Through my dealings with them and the pet relocator, I feel like being persistent and polite help a lot. People tend to be more willing to help. Not saying that the others who emailed the airline’s customer service are not polite, but unfortunately people do put tones when reading complaint or feedback emails. I like to think that I was one of the lucky ones who caught them at the right time, responding to my emails in a friendly manner and not putting unwanted tones to my inquiry.

I am hoping things would continue to be positive and we can get back to Australia soon.

A piece of good news

This morning our pet relocator messaged us to let us know that Whisky’s flight plan has been approved. We don’t know who she is flying with, but we are thinking it is going to be with Royal Brunei Airline because that is the airline that they tried to secure a flight with.

We are excited and really hope that it will go as planned. On the 31st of August, the acting Prime Minister of Malaysia will announce whether the country will extend the RMCO (Recovery Movement Control Order). Already we are reading news on Malaysia Travel Support group on Facebook that there is a possibility of Malaysia suspending all flights from and to Malaysia. This would obviously affect us the most, not sure how it would affect the dog. Again, we have our digits crossed so she still can get on a flight to Brunei.

Today I also received an employment offer with one of the international school here in KL. It is not an attractive offer and I will ask the school if I can have some time to go through all the paperwork that they have sent me. If Whisky’s flight is a sure thing, then I can safely say that I won’t be accepting their offer. However, if the flight is cancelled, then I will have to. We can’t continue to rely on our savings until we can find a flight back to Australia that is guaranteed to fly on the day it is suppose to fly.

Who knew the world we know would be in such uncertainty. With airlines grounding their planes to closing down their entire operation, we are not sure when and who to book flights with. Already we have 2 tickets and 2x30kg excess baggage with Singapore Airline. They have refunded the money, waiting for our bank to clear the fund. It has taken them 7 weeks to get back to me with the information. It would take another 4 to 6 weeks for the bank. Can’t keep buying tickets and waiting for refunds. Maybe we should fly with the dog as cargo as well.

We will continue to keep our hopes us and both pair of eyes on all airline websites. Digits crossed for either a commercial flight or rescue flight to take us home.

Australia, you can do it! Show those negative Nancies that you care about your citizens.

Whisky might be going

Yesterday we received hopeful news from our pet relocator agent. They told us that the export permit to Brunei has been approved. The photos of Whisky we sent might have helped, as they were worried that Whisky could be a mixed of pom and an aggressive breed. The agent is now waiting to hear back from either Malaysia Airline or Brunei Air for confirmation of cargo space for Whisky. We are hoping that all will go as planned.

If it does, Whisky will go to a vet in Shah Alam for her medical check up. On the 4th, she will be picked up around 1:30AM to go to the airport. She then will spend 14 days in quarantine, followed by another 30 days of boarding. Once she has completed all that, Whisky will have to go through another round of medical check up before she goes to Melbourne, Australia. There, she will spend another 10 days in quarantine and hop on another flight to Brisbane. Digits crossed that this plan will go without a hitch.

On the human side, we received some good news about our current accommodation as well. Our landlord understands our situation well and to help us out, he has extended our contract with reduced rent. We might have to move to one of his other condo if someone is interested in renting ours. We will get all our deposit back, if there is no damage and unpaid bills.

What’s next?

I have just finished my teaching contract at an international school in Kuala Lumpur. I had a plan to renew for another year as I enjoyed the environment and the people I worked with. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned. What I liked turned into something I dreaded.

My new plan was to go back to Australia with my husband and our dog, Whisky. In November 2019, we started the process. We looked for an agent to help us bring Whisky home. She was planned to fly back in early August 2020. Just as things started to move forward, we hit a number of speed bumps. First, Malaysia got taken off the list of approved countries for pet import. Then the virus, followed by MCO (Movement Control Order), the shutting down of borders and limited number of flights to take us and the dog home.

We have been out of the job for the past 2 months, looked for a new posting, received some job offers, rejected a few and now I am considering whether I should take the recent offer or not. All comes down to the dog. Can she leave the country in the first week of September? Can we leave Malaysia soon after Whisky has left?

In the meantime, hubby has started his Balintawak private class. He is looking to do EAL online tutoring as well with students from our previous school. On top of it all, we keep hoping that Whisky will be able to leave, we will get a direct flight to Brisbane and won’t have to worry about what we are going to do if Whisky can’t leave.