Your timing might be unfortunate, as was mine.
I hold an ATPL and have about 4,000 hours. Half of that is airline jet time.
I was making inquiries last year about converting my Aussie license to a Malaysian one so that I can go for the occasional jolly in a C172. Just when I was getting close to jumping through the regulatory hoops there was a change (I think September 2018 off the top of my head) whereby Malaysia is no longer converting foreign licenses. I presume if you get hired by a Malaysian airline there are ways around that.
What this means for me is that if I want to occasionally take a 172 for a spin with family or friends I need to go back to effects of controls with an instructor to get my license here from scratch. Obviously, that's not happening.
Good luck!
P.s I think Malaysia also did the same thing with car drivers licenses. I hope someone comes to their senses here soon and these ridiculous changes get overturned.