An Indian man who grew up in New Zealand has revealed that he believes that it is not ideal for Indians to move to the country. He warned fellow Indian against immigrating to New Zealand, sharing his experience growing up there and moving back to India.
Taking to Reddit, the man called New Zealand "a geographically isolated country" which feel like a small town where "you’re just not connected to the rest of the world." Labelling it as "an extremely dull country", the man compared it to the vibrant life in India with lively markets and festivals. "The biggest shopping malls all close at 7pm. Most shops close at 5-6pm. You walk through the city centre after 8.30pm and there’s hardly anyone out and about. Barely any cars at night," he wrote.
He also claimed that the most expats do not like living in New Zealand because it is too expensive. "You take a bus/taxi from one city to another and that’s the majority of your disposable income for the week gone. So people all just end up staying home and doing nothing after work," he said.
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The man also shared how healthcare system in New Zealand shocked him, adding that appointments have to be booked months in advance and come with a heavy fees. "My friend had to see a cardiologist as she had some chest pain and it cost her around ₹1 lakh," he said. When his father was diagnosed with kidney stones and was told he had to wait six months to get surgery, he had no choice but to fly to India to get the operation done, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The man also shared how healthcare system in New Zealand shocked him, adding that appointments have to be booked months in advance and come with a heavy fees. "My friend had to see a cardiologist as she had some chest pain and it cost her around ₹1 lakh," he said. When his father was diagnosed with kidney stones and was told he had to wait six months to get surgery, he had no choice but to fly to India to get the operation done, he said.
{{/usCountry}}He also highlighted an alleged bias against Indians in New Zealand. "Indians unfortunately have a negative reputation in NZ. You can go to any NZ subreddit and search for ‘Indian’ and see what sort of comments show up. It’s hard to make friends here. The people are friendly but insular. They don’t like bringing new people in to their circles," he wrote.
While he admitted that the country has good things too like a high minimum wage and social security benefits, he claimed they were not worth "the negatives of living in NZ".
Social media users flooded the post, many calling the man's observations "eye-opening". "NZ is the country which I always had in my mind to move just in case I hit a lottery. Just because it is isolated and as beautiful as Switzerland. But yeah the facts which you have mentioned are definitely eye opening," said one of them.
Others said their experience was the opposite. "Depends on person to person. My brother loved it. He used to go hiking during the summer months, camping almost every weekend during summer etc. He is back in India and is miserable," said a user.