Marques Young aka Q Sound, singer, songwriter, trombonist, bandleader and composer, moved to Malaysia from New York in 2009 playing with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, joined a band, Bassment Syndicate, before starting a solo career. On this episode, Q Sound talks about career, inspiration his debut album, Duel Citizenship, and what's next for him in 2018.

Image source: MTalent Asia

Other Expats Podcast

Q Sound talks about 'everything'

While he may not technically be an expat yet, Olajide (Ben) Adejumo, a student of HELP University on a sports (basketball) scholarship from Nigeria, shares and experiences a lot of what expats do.

In this episode of the Other Expats podcast, Ben talks about similarities and differences between living in Malaysia and the motherland, making friends, and dribbling on his extremely tight schedule.

Show Notes:

01.06: Who is Olajide? BTW, Olajide is Yoruba for wealth comes in the morning

07.04: What adjustments did he need to make moving to Malaysia on a sports scholarship?

17.11: "My social life is basketball," says Ben, who shuffles between basketball practice and games and studies

21.00: The conditions that come with a sports scholarship don't allow for any laziness. "You constantly have to be on your toes."

28.36: Being judged before we are known

Olajide Adejumo - Between basketball and media studies

We met Usman Garba at his place in February for a one-on-one interview, where he talks about his experiences in Malaysia, turning down two job offers for a chance to work with Google and then losing that opportunity, taking a pre-sales job to get his foot in the door and the "two-second rule". He also shares some of his favorite TV shows and what he does when he isn't doing technical training. 


Some of the things we talked about

06.03: Insecure was the show to watch last year. Looking forward to the new seasons of Insecure and Atlanta

07.25 - The Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) are the college entry exams and I'm not sure how it works now but back then, after the exams, you can't be 100% sure you'll get results. The exams may get canceled or it'll take forever to get the results. 

20.40: If you're coming to Malaysia to study, you have to pick a really good school

24.40: I started out as a virtual profiler, calling companies to understand their tech needs and requirements. Since no knowledge is wasted, I've carried the experience from those days into my current role as a trainer.

25.48: In my case, even though I have a Masters in computer networking, I was willing to accept a job in pre-sales which at the end of the day puts me in a better position. So, are you willing to do that? It's making sure you get your feet in the door first.

27.14: After turning down two offers to work with Google, he ends up not getting in. What happens next?

33.45: Horror apartment hunting stories - are you Chinese-looking or do you look more Indian?

37.07: We round up with the two-minute rule

The two-minute rule is, whatever it is you want to do, it takes two minutes to get started. If I want to write a book, it will take me two minutes to get a pen and paper and write my first word or sentence. That is progress from two minutes ago when I had nothing written.

Usman Garba - Just get your foot in the door

Congolese, Roth Mikoungui, a support engineer in Kuala Lumpur, talks about his career, his Malaysian experience, dealing with his hectic schedule and his favorite place in Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang.

Here's some of the stuff we talked about: 

1.34: Roth is the first Congolese we've met so far! Apparently, the Congolese community in Malaysia is very small because many of them who leave the country prefer to go to China, Europe, and the US

7.26: Apparently, Guineans have a big community in Malaysia. I haven't ever met anyone from there. Or maybe I have and didn't know.

9.53: Some foreigners (or just people who've never been at before decided now was the best time to crowd around the people recording and take pictures. That's all the discussions you hear in the background for the next few minutes.

13.00: "Before I used to be very sexy with a six-pack, but now I have a family pack, so..."

14.23: "They are black like me and they have jobs, is there any magic involved? No. If they can do it, so can I.

14.32: When you try your best, you never know when the door is going to open.

21.22: It's better to see something that you failed at because you know that at least you tried.

25.17: If you see it in that perspective that they are exploiting you, they are using you, you will quit your job. You will not work. But on the other hand, you can see it as a chance to gain experience and learn while looking for better opportunities, and build your career.

Roth Mikoungui - If they can do it, so can I

Stuff we talked about

4.50: LITT Nomads - remote work and travel program to give remote workers an immersive experience in Southeast Asia

7.15: "My travel around Southeast Asia has been really good to me!"

09.08: What is something every expat in Malaysia should experience at least once? Explore outside of the city areas!

15.20: Living here is not super difficult for me culturally because it's such a Westernised city. It's a very modern place; they have a lot of conveniences, they speak English in most places,  I can find what I need and my work environment specifically is very Western

19.10: Learning the power of building community; moving outside a circle of friends based on familiarity.

Images by Kristen Noelle

Kristen Noelle - Building communities

Expats in Malaysia talk about a wide range of subjects that affect minority expats---from fun topics to things that we may not be comfortable talking about. Also features guests (expats and locals) who contribute and provide more information about things relevant to the other expats.