I may be something like 40% foreign, but I feel like a human being. I didn’t in Malaysia, where I lived illegally for five years. People hated us, we were persecuted by the police, and we lived in the forests. When I came to Denmark, I received both money and a place to live. There are racists everywhere and people shouting “Paki” and “piss off home”, but it is easier not to be provoked when your basic requirements are met and you feel recognised as a human being.
One of the first things I noticed in Denmark was that there were so few people in the streets. I asked a taxi driver why this was so. He told me to go outside and wait for a quarter of an hour, and I would understand. After five minutes I went back inside the car again. It was simply too cold. “So you see now”, he said to me. There is a big difference between summer and winter in Denmark. In summer there is life everywhere and the atmosphere reminds me of where I grew up, but in the winter I can feel really lonely. In the autumn I became father to a child in Malaysia where my wife lives. I don’t know what the future will hold for us, but we must figure out how we can live together so I can be a part of my child’s life. When I finished the 9th grade, I was so fed up with school and I couldn’t be bothered to get an education. That is something I regret today. An education would have opened many doors in Denmark and abroad, but I haven’t any, so for the time being I am trapped in my job as a bus driver.
37 years / male / in a relationship / child / bus driver / Høje Gladsaxe / from Indonesia / came to Denmark as a quota refugee in 2005