Strong ties to Malaysia

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Hi there!

Scott, first of all, thank you for creating and maintaining such an excellent forum. I find the topics posted varied and interesting.

Not sure if this is the place to post this subject matter. Please feel free to move it to wherever you consider appropriate.

I have been wondering whether most of you who are drawn to living in Malaysia have strong ties to this country? By that, I mean is your spouse / partner from Malaysia or neighbouring country such as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, etc and therefore is one of the reasons you participate in this program?

If both of you are westerners, is your partner equally as enthusiastic as you to move to Malaysia?

As I had previously mentioned, I am tentatively exploring the idea of retiring to Malaysia in the very near future but is uncertain as to the right thing to do. Right now it sounds pretty daunting to me.


Cheers

Cupert

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hi,

For me, I was working in Singapore for many years and moving to Malaysia was no biggie, and it was cheaper. In fact, we moved across the Causeway as a temporary measure whilst sorting out the next move.

Over the next 1/2 a dozen years there were 4 or 5 trips back to the UK, and a similar number of extended trips to Portugal and Spain. I effectively re-built my property in Portugal with the intention of staying there.

But Malaysia is much, much cheaper. And I found the visits back to Europe to be along the lines of "I'd like to get back to Malaysia now." 

Malaysia seemed to me to be far less aggressive than the UK. This is totally subjective and it's a feeling rather than a substantive argument, but it seems that in Malaysia there was far less chance of getting involved in any random violence than in the UK.

In Malaysia I've never walked down the street and had to judge if the group of drunks coming towards me were going to cause trouble. In the UK it happened several times, and sometimes with my sister I'd be told, "let's cross over."

In Portugal the drunks were on holiday so it was a case of avoiding flying bottles and guys (& girls for that matter) peeing along the streets.

Given that everyone has to be somewhere, Malaysia seems to be on the upside of Ok. Not always wonderful, not often lousy, but OK. And usually more than Ok.

It's still cheap, and generally most Malaysians that I have met welcome me as a foreign tourist, are interested to ask where I'm from, and I get lots of good wishes and smiles. And I smile back and say please and thank-you.

And English is widely spoken.

That's my 2 sen worth.

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Hi Scott

Thanks for that. Another issue I would like to raise is that what are the chances of the visa not being renewed? Is there such a possibility?

Does it not bother you to be relegated to the status of foreign tourist after living here for a decade or more?

Thanks again for your input from your perspective.

Cupert

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hi, Cupert,

If I'm still around in 10 years to renew the visa then I'll do so. And I have absolutely no qualms about the visa being renewed. The Malaysian government changes various rules and regulations as often as does the British Government, and probably every other government, but it has always said that visa renewal was open to all who stay within the rules, and this has been the case - as far as anyone can know.

Remember there's an item which says that if you're too old to get medical insurance then just get a refusal letter and it'll be Ok. Neat, huh?

Relegated to tourist status, nah, life isn't a league table.    

Most folks would love to be a Tourist. And I've been a foreign tourist for the past 15 years. Actually probably longer than that if you asked my ex-employer in Singapore.

I don't see what else I could be or would want to be. I wouldn't mind being Italian as they seem to really know how to enjoy life and have lots of fun, and Italy has such a diverse and magnificent cultural heritage, past and present, and totally wonderful food, and according to my Italian friends tax avoidance is a national game even played by the current PM. But I'm not so, mama mia, what to do.   

I enjoy being me. I don't really need a label although Permanent Tourist sounds good. Every government likes a Tourist. Locals in any country like Tourists, and Tourism Boards love them. Taxmen leave Tourists alone. Tourists can ask really dumb questions and get nice responses. Immigration officers smile at Tourists. And Tourists can wear daft clothes and no-one bothers. Maybe I'll start a thread on the advantages of being a Tourist.

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Hi Cupert,

My reasons for being in Penang are mainly due toi having strong ties here. Imagine a spotty youth from Manchester being transported to Penang at the age of 17 and being surrounded by the sites and smells of the orient. It was a truly magical experience. After about two years here I married my wife who is a Penang girl with a large (and wonderful) family, so I could say I have strong ties here.

Having said that it would be difficult to live anywhere I didnt like and Malaysia is a place I love. Every day is an experience (usually good) and never boring. I will visit the UK occasionally during the summers but in many years time I expect to end my days here sucking laksa through a straw and waving my stick at the Mat Rempit as they tear up and down Tanjong Bungah.

I am pretty sure the the governement here will stick by their offer to renew the visa, Malaysia is no banana republic and if they didnt have us to make fun of then the coffee shops would be much less interesting.

Bob

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I expect to end my days here sucking laksa through a straw

How do you get the noodles up the straw?

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hi,

How do you get the noodles up the straw?

Easy, lah. Big straw, small noodles. 

You see, if we were all stuck somewhere else we wouldn't be having these witty exchanges.   

I've only been in Singapore for 2 days and I'm still exclaiming "but it's twice what the same thing costs in Perak" with every purchase.

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We left Singapore 2 days ago and are now in Sitiawan.  A family member will be taking us to see the "artificial" (don't want to use "man-made") Marina Island Pangkor.  We too noticed a big difference in the food stall prices between Singapore and Sitiawan... in the opposite direction." Wow, that's only half of the Singapore price!"  Sometimes, it's even less than half 

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Another reason why we love to holiday in Malaysia! It is like 'Wow, so cheap' especially when AUD1 = RM3 or a bit over. It was RM3.3 in November! 

That was heavenly! 

Throw in Air Asia's airfare, we can afford to visit Malaysia twice a year and stay in better class accommodations! 

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I first came to Malaysia back in the 70's. At that time I was in the Army stationed in Hong Kong. In those days they had what was called the "Leave relief scheme" This was a sum of money which was paid instead of the rail warrants that you were entitled to back home in the UK. The amount was generous enough to pay for a holiday in the region.

My wife and I decided to go to Penang. The weekend before I was due to go I was on duty. I worked in the British Military Hospital, and for some reason everyone seemed to be seriously ill that weekend. I was so glad to see the back of that place on Monday morning.

We got to the airport, checked in, had a beer and boarded the aircraft. We had just sat down (This was my first experience of flying commercial aircraft, previous flights all courtesy of Crab Air (RAF)) and the stewardess came up to me.  "Sir,we have a slight problem in that we are overbooked!" Panic, shock horror went through my mind. "Would you and your wife mind coming up to the First Class cabin" (They didn't have Business Class in those days)  Result.

On arrival in Penang I remember a sign as you walked off the plane, The Death Penalty is Mandatory For Drug Offences! and below that Welcome to Malaysia!

We stayed at the Golden Sands Hotel in Batu Ferringhi, in those days it was just a 2 storey rectangular block of a building. The only other hotel was the Rasa Sayang. Just down the road the Holiday Inn was just being built. Opposite the hotels were a few traditional Malay houses (on stilts) and "Jungle"

I recall we would walk down the road towards the HI and at the first corner to there was a restaurant. It was little more than a tin hut and it was the first time I had a prawn curry. Must have eaten at least 4 prawns before realising that you should take of the shells first. 

Georgetown was allmost devoid of cars, except for taxis, most people using bicycles. We went on a tour round the island which called at the Butterfly Farm, a Batik manufacturer, remember seeing some sort of dredging operation "inland" and the Snake Temple.

I remember sitting on the beach watching the sun go down and I said to the wife "One day I'm coming back here to live!"

Fast forward to the mid 90's and I am the Pacific Rim Manager for a company manufacturing Scientific equipment. My Malaysian distributor takes me to Penang to see some customers and we stay at a hotel in Batu Ferringhi! I cannot believe what I see, a concrete jungle. I was expecting some change but nothing had prepared me for what I came across. I was extremely disappointed, where was my island paradise?

This is getting a bit long so I will continue my story in Part 2.

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Hi OldMan

Sad, isn't it what had happen to Penang especially from Tanjong Tokong onwards.   

However, I am the eternal optimist and pray, hope and believe that with the efforts of a few enlightened Penangites and MM2H members, the island may be transformed to become the pearl of the orient again. 

Cupert

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OK fast forward to 2004, I now have my own business and it has been around 7 years since I had been to Malaysia. I return to Penang, holding discussions with a Malaysian manufacturing company regarding contract manufacture. I am staying at the E&O hotel (Had a suite for only £32 per night!!!!) where the service is out of this world. Michael, one of the bar staff, would see us coming through the entrance to the hotel each evening and would have our large G&T ready on the bar as we walked in. They even got Gordons Gin in specially for us  .

In between the business meetings I explored the island, renting a replica MG in Batu Ferranghi. It was good to see that there were still areas of Penang that were pretty much the same from my first visit. I was also talking with the owners of the company we were visiting about housing, cost of living etc.

The trip back to the UK was a bit of a disaster, Delayed flights, luggage took an age to turn up. Got out of the airport and it started raining, put on the car radio, nothing but bad news (Petrol heading to £1 a litre). Joined the M25 and parked my car for 2 hours because of an accident.

It was then that a lightbulb came on in my head "What the F*** am I putting up with this for?" I made my mind up there and then, I am leaving the UK for Malaysia. So a few months later I am back in Penang on business and  looking at property, etc. I was there for around 4 weeks, so, for a change of scenery I decided to go to Thailand for the weekend  . Big Mistake, went to a restaurant and had one of the most amazing meals of my life. I got talking with the lady that owned the restaurant and ended up marrying her. (It took a bit longer than that  )


My new found wife was actually Burmese, so there was quite a bit of work, sorting out passports visa's etc. As she was a Burmese citizen, and the Burmese passport isn't worth the paper its written on, we decided that we would wait until she got her UK citizenship before relocating to Malaysia.

To be continued....

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Please continue soon  - - - - we are all wondering what the "Big Mistake" was ??

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Please continue soon  - - - - we are all wondering what the "Big Mistake" was ??

Going to Thailand & getting married lol! (Hope the wife doesn't see this)

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Going to Thailand & getting married lol! (Hope the wife doesn't see this)

 

Cupert