Reverse culture shock led these M’sians to create an event for former international students 

On a regular day in Melbourne, you might say hi to your neighbour as you pet their dog, chat with your morning coffee provider about the weather, ask the cashier at your favourite lunch spot about the latest gossip, then spend an evening at the pub making a new friend.  

Try doing that in Kuala Lumpur with strangers and you might get weird stares for trying most of that. Even conversations with friends or coworkers may revert to default topics like mortgage and car payments. It’s small talk all the same, sure, but it lacks the connection that many of us seek for.  

At least, that’s how Danny Chong and Joelle Leong feel.  

Both architecture grads who studied in Melbourne before returning to Malaysia, the two teamed up with a third friend, Joe Cheng, who studied in the UK, to create a social club called ReHaus for Malaysians who have lived abroad to connect with one another. 

But before that…  

Chong was an architecture student at Monash University. Source: Danny Chong

Why return to Malaysia?  

For Chong and Leong, the reason for coming home came down to growth and challenge. They felt like Melbourne was a great place for self-discovery, but lacked the drive and energy they saw in Asia.  

“For me, I knew that Melbourne wasn’t going to be a forever home. I knew that I would come back eventually before my 20s were over,” Leong said. “It was very much a place where you could grow and find yourself, but in terms of further career growth it wasn’t really a place I wanted to be in. Because it’s very comfortable, but I want to be challenged a little bit.”  

Beyond that, there was the fact that the economy in Australia at the time wasn’t great, especially in their field. On the flip side, Malaysia was booming.  

Chong agrees, “Melbourne was just a place for me to grow. A place for me to get as many experiences as I could get. Eventually, Malaysia is still a home and where I feel belonging. It’s easier for me to start things I want to start.”  

The two add that starting a business in Malaysia, especially if you’re local, is a lot easier compared to Australia. The capital needed is lower and easier to come by.  

Plus, having obtained international exposure, it was more advantageous for them to get jobs too.  

An image from ReHaus’ first event. Source: ReHaus

What is reverse culture shock? 

Despite all their love for Malaysia, acclimatising back to their home country took a bit of effort. It wasn’t so much that Malaysia had changed, but rather, them.  

When asked about whether they experienced culture shocks down under, Chong and Leong had hemmed and hawed, unable to recall specific instances of true “shocks” in Melbourne.  

Yet, when the question turned to reverse culture shocks, both had stories to share immediately.  

Reverse culture shock, in simple terms, is much like the culture shock experienced by the exchange or international students when first integrating into the host culture, with the difference that reverse culture shock is experienced when returning to the home culture. 

“I think one of the biggest [reverse] culture shocks was the way people talk, and the way people communicate, and the topics,” Chong muses.  

The disconnect was exacerbated by the fact that many of their friends who experienced studying abroad chose to stay abroad. For Leong, most of her friends ended up being colleagues, but they couldn’t really empathise with her feelings.  

“It sounds crazy, but there was a language barrier, because I’m quite ‘banana’, but they’re all Chinese speakers, so I was really struggling to fit in,” she says. 

The term banana is used in Malaysia to refer to Chinese people who do not speak Mandarin or other dialects.  

Complaining from the lens of someone who’s studied overseas, though, may come off as unrelatable at best or entitled at worst.  

According to a study published in 2024, two main coping strategies that students have relied on to reduce their reverse culture shock include processing and accepting that they have become different after their exchange, and staying in touch with fellow exchange alumni.  

That’s exactly what ReHaus is facilitating, as a safe space for those who have studied, worked, or lived in other countries to come together and connect. 

A poster for ReHaus’ next event in December 2025. Source: ReHaus

Creating a judgement-free zone  

ReHaus itself is actually an event series by Haus Haus, something Chong and Cheng created as a fun platform to test new, creative ideas. It was during a Haus Haus event that Leong and Joe met each other for the first time.  

From there, the two quickly bonded over shared struggles of returning to the motherland, such as not having friends who can relate. While there are social mixers out there that offered real connections, there wasn’t anything that focused on Malaysians who have lived abroad. 

Thus, the idea for ReHaus was spawned.  

“So, Joe and I were like, let’s put the idea in Danny’s head,” Leong reveals. “Let’s do a ‘come back from abroad’ thing. So I sent Joe on a mission to plant it in his head.” 

“I didn’t know that,” Chong laughs. “It was very subtle.” 

With about three months of planning and a push on Instagram ads, ReHaus launched its first event in July to a surprisingly receptive audience. It led to another event in early September, which also worked out well.  

“The main purpose is finding a place, a safe space where everyone can just share experiences and maybe even complain-ish, so to say,” Leong says. “But without anyone judging.”  

So far, ReHaus has hosted two events, with another one in the works. They’re working to grow their community and help people like them find like-minded friends who’ve experienced living abroad.