~{nilheadimage~=132307~}
Concurrent with our ~{purplepost~=772~;text~=Big OE~;target~=bigoe~}, you might remember, was our quest for a long-stay Malaysian visa ("Malaysia My Second Home", or MM2H).

After the hectic application activity of ~{purplepost~=779~;text~=Weeks 1~;target~=1~}, ~{purplepost~=784~;text~=2~;target~=2~}, and ~{purplepost~=789~;text~=3~;target~=3~}, Weeks 4, 5, 6, and 7 were all quiet.

We weren't expecting to hear anything. The "30 working days" mentioned on the receipt for the application would bring us to Wednesday 13 March. So we wandered a bit further afield, seeking purple in other lands.

~{nilimage~=132471~;dir~=V~;alt~=wanderingjew~}
~{nilimage~=132486~;dir~=V~;alt~=guardian~}
As time wore on, though, we began to be a little concerned that our sponsor had not yet been contacted.

At the beginning of Week 8, an article about the ~{link~= https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/04/home-ministry-tightens-background-checks-for-mm2h-programme/#tuucq2T2Gfxv6D1d.99 ~;text~=logjam~;target~=logjam~} in the Peninsula Malaysia MM2H scheme fanned the concern a little more.

Shouldn't affect us, we reasoned. Sarawak's scheme is separate. Different. Something else entirely.

But over lunch at ~{purplepost~=807~;text~=The Cape~;target~=cape~}, we started to interrogate each other: "Are you worried?" "A bit."

We started, in desultory post-lunch mode, to revisit other possibilities. Thailand maybe? Or the Philippines? We could make either of those work, I think, and had looked at both before. But Sarawak was what we really wanted. And the idea of more schemes, more applications, more bank accounts, and more medicals was slightly depressing.

That same afternoon, we heard from our sponsor that she'd been interviewed. She thinks it went well. But they mentioned a decision in a month or two... Yikes, if it's two more months, we'll be off OEing again, not due back until early August...

~{nilimage~=132524~;dir~=H~;alt~=purplebread~;caption~=Hearing we were still in the running: like purple bread at the top of a mountain~}
There's nothing we can do. We just have to ~{purplepost~=823~;text~=wait~;target~=9-12~}.

~{nilimage~=132312~;dir~=V~;alt~=table~;caption~=It will be nice to get our feet under the table, but more time is needed...~}
I'm not bleating here. Just reporting.

Our lives don't depend on this. Though we'd very much like to live in Sarawak, we do, at the end of the day, have other options. We're not even talking about a long wait in the great scheme of things...

Again, I'm reminded that we are immensely privileged.

~{nilimage~=132526~;dir~=H~;alt~=ganesh~;caption~=Trusting Ganesh to remove all obstacles...~}