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[Muz]

Malaysia sucks. A lot of reasons which I won't get into now. With the direction society and politics is going, I'll be willing to change citizenship.

So what's a good country to go to?

I'm a software engineer. I've had some entrepreneurial background so anything that recognizes that would be good. But I'd like somewhere I can focus on writing really good code, instead of hacking one thing after another.

Silicon Valley/SF seems like an obvious choice, but visa is really tough. So any other secondary locations would be good.

I've heard that much of Asia can be a little racist and it'd be good to know that from an insider's perspective.

[Teneb]

I'm afraid you'll need to be a bit more specific as to what you want of your destination. For instance, you mentioned racism, but there are other types of prejudice out there.

Stating what languages you speak could also help, as well as preferred climate/continent.

[Vector]

-snip-

[Muz]

I can very likely get a $100k+ job at SF. I'm not so worried about cost of living because a regular job in Malaysia people are paying to work for their first 5-10 years. I've sold a company and I'm still homeless with no car. Being able to spend 60% of my post tax salary to rent a safe one bedroom apartment would be a luxury.

I'm also Muslim so concerned about anti-Islamic discrimination and Trump supporters.

Aside from English/Malay, I can speak very basic German and can read Arabic script. But I'm fine with learning most languages as long as it's not something tough like Chinese/Russian.

If I could pick, I would say warm/hot climates. But some of the best places are in cold climates so it's not a big factor.

I have a wife and kids and hate unproductive overtime, so cultures like Japan/Korea are out.

I ask here because I have a similar kind of ideal lifestyle - intellectual discussions with friends, fast computers over fast cars. Even a techno hermit lifestyle like Toady and Notch do is appealing.

[Vector]

-snip-

[Orange Wizard]

Ooh, I get to shill New Zealand.

I can very likely get a $100k+ job at SF. I'm not so worried about cost of living because a regular job in Malaysia people are paying to work for their first 5-10 years. I've sold a company and I'm still homeless with no car. Being able to spend 60% of my post tax salary to rent a safe one bedroom apartment would be a luxury.

You'd probably be able to rent a two-bedroom house on even an entry-level programmer's wage in Wellington or Christchurch. Not so much Auckland.

I'm also Muslim so concerned about anti-Islamic discrimination and Trump supporters.

Shouldn't be an issue. Some people will be jerks obviously but the culture here is very anti-discrimination (but not to the point of absurdity like, say, Sweden)

Aside from English/Malay, I can speak very basic German and can read Arabic script. But I'm fine with learning most languages as long as it's not something tough like Chinese/Russian.

We speak English. Maori's an official language but you'll never need to use it.

If I could pick, I would say warm/hot climates. But some of the best places are in cold climates so it's not a big factor.

Auckland is hotter, but it's also got worse transport/crime/environment.

I have a wife and kids and hate unproductive overtime, so cultures like Japan/Korea are out.

Not an issue. Employees are very well-provided for.

I ask here because I have a similar kind of ideal lifestyle - intellectual discussions with friends, fast computers over fast cars. Even a techno hermit lifestyle like Toady and Notch do is appealing.

The sports culture is obnoxious but you'll find plenty of variety, as with anywhere else.

[Pencil_Art]

-snip-

Hear, hear.

[ChairmanPoo]

Speaking of NZ, I'm curious about one thing: I've been hearing for months about some officials from NZ moaning about how noone wants to go to their town to be a GP despite them paying something on the order of 250.000€ a year. What's the story behind this? Why doesn't anyone want to go there?  Why are they paying that much? Why doesn't anybody want to go there DESPITE them being willing to pay that much?

[Orange Wizard]

I haven't heard anything like that, although it's hard to say without details. A GP here would be paid around half that amount (1-200k NZD), so unless the location is horrendously undesirable I'd be very surprised.

[ChairmanPoo]

This was the story: http://metro.co.uk/2016/02/23/for-some-reason-no-one-wants-this-190k-a-year-junior-doctor-job-in-new-zealand-5713146/

[Orange Wizard]

Oh, okay. Most of the North Island's population is clustering up in Auckland, and apparently Tokoroa is one of the worse-hit places. I guess it's mostly just a local thing of people not wanting to work at a private practice in a dying town.

[TheBiggerFish]

I don't really have advice but I do wish you good luck in your search.

[Jopax]

I've been hearing good things about Ireland. I'm not sure how the programmer situation is happening but a lot of young people from these parts seem to be successful in finding some kind of work there.

[BigD145]

Canada. During the winter you can code indoors. Go far enough north and it's always winter.

[Muz]

Thanks guys.

I'll probably only move to a big city, as that's where the good jobs usually are. And I think I probably have to get a good job to get a working visa. In big cities there's also a lot less discrimination.

But after some thought, if I wanted to just technohermit, I might as well stay in Malaysia, where it's easy to live off $1500 a month and still get 10MBps internet. Climate is constant sauna, but I'd take that over constant freezer any day.

I don't personally feel like this is necessarily the place to go for "intellectual discussions with friends," so don't assume that will automatically happen. There's a lot of idiots around here who make a lot of money but aren't that intelligent. That's why I'm on Bay12 instead of actually talking with flesh-and-blood human beings.

Ahh, because I've lived in Boston and Sydney and both had a lot of good intellectual discussions, which I really miss.

Boston tends to be a little snooty... the kind of people who speak Latin, play 5 instruments, and compare Socrates and Ibn Rushd. Sydney is a little more B12-ish, where you can talk with the cashier of a fast food joint on how to build giant robots or why aliens haven't discovered us yet.