Penang or Malacca - Whats the Better Option ??

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Guys,

I recently commented on both places & rated each 9 out of 10. An informed Malacca resident recently put it to me -- "they are so similar yet so different".

PENANG: Good infrastructure, great restaurants, clubs, expat communities, airport, lots of property options, scenic mountains, some reasonable beaches BUT busy, noisy, overdeveloped in parts & a bit dirty/rough at the edges.

MALACCA: More laid back, better planned, much cleaner, great restaurants/shopping, less expensive BUT no operational airport yet, less property options, no apparent good beaches, less people & smaller expat communities.

I would qualify the above observations given they are based on just 1 week in Penang plus a few days in Mallacca. Also, the choice clearly depends on individuals personal preferences.

Nevertheless, whats the better option ? Also, lets try to be objective & assume we are adopting a "green field approach".

Cheers,

James

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Hi James,

The good news for Malacca is a new airport has just been completed and open to commercial airlines, but the bad news is none of the airlines is willing to operate from this airport, meaning that hundred millions of ringgit spent to build this airport has now gone into the drain.  BTW, KLIA is just perhaps 45 mins drive away from Malacca. 

Cheers

costa

 

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This is old thread, but anyway trying my luck...

I am now in about choosing between these 2 locations. When you say that Malacca is "less expensive"... do you mean property purchase prices or rental or living cost in general? In what level (%) i should expect to see be the cost difference in practice?

Cost of living is not all that counts,,, but since I can freely choose the location, it sounds sensible to pay less if can reach the same level of living.

I will be visiting both locations in coming few weeks to get some feeling of them... and will also have a look at the available condos/houses. Any recommendation for a good agent who can listen and understand my preferences would be appreciated!

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Have sent you a PM.  Would be interested in how you find Malacca/Melaka if you get to visit before I do.  Never got time on my last visit.  My next one will be subject to no time constraint 

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Thanks for the message. I will update here my impression of Melaka... in case you don't here about it in few weeks, give me reminder

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OK, if things go according to plan, will be in Penang in a few weeks too 

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I will update here my impression of Melaka... in case you don't here about it in few weeks, give me reminder

Reminder?

I am purely curious what people like about the place.  We visited there last week and only stayed 1 day in the end.  That was quite enough.... though can appreciate that we may not have been in the best part of Melaka.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn, arrived one lunchtime, and really struggled to find anywhere open to feed us.  Just seemed like a ghost town.  When we finally found somewhere, the prices for food and drink seemed about double that of Penang.  We drove through that famous square, y'know the one with the big red church, and it all looked really tacky and touristy and lifeless, just no soul about the place.  A bit sad.  Or were we just in the wrong bit?

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Malacca?  No way.

It's hard to convince me to visit the so-called HISTORIC town for second time, let alone live there for long term.  I find the whole town to be very pretentious, man-made and touristy.  Traffic especially during weekend can be a nightmare.

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Yeah,  I found it a little bit quiet there, but saying that I found Langkawi too quiet for my taste also.  The beaches at Langkawi are certainly no Coogee Beach but each to their own.

The locals in Malacca were friendly and real estate was certainly cheap enough.

Horses for courses.

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I love Langkawi but I don't think I would want to live there... too quiet for me.  As you say though, it's horses for courses.  I'm sure a lot of folks love living there.

Melaka - just wondered if I'd missed something.  Wrong part of town?  Not looking to move there, just visits - quite happy with Penang so far.

We drove in on a weekday (Monday) but still quite heavy traffic and slow going trying to get into the centre/riverside.  So many traffic lights.

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Singaporeans go there for a weekend treat.  I stayed at the Renaissance and the weekends were BUSY...I thought the place had a nice feel about it but as I said horses for....

Langkawi is a nice place to visit infrequently (for me), hey, the beer was cheap enough.

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3 Years ago we spent a good deal of time in KL, Penang and Seremban looking for the ideal place to live.  We discounted all three locations for many and varied reasons.

We then luckily discovered Melaka.  And thats where we stayed.

It really is horses for courses.  Loads of MM2Hers end up in Penang and there must be a reason for that but its not my cup of tea.  Dont get me wrong, I like Penang, a lot and we have holidays there twice a year but I dont want to live there.

Do you want to live in Croydon or Worthing?  Crawley or Brighton?  London or Canterbury?  Melaka or Penang?

There is nothing wrong with any of them, yet people will like or dislike these places.

True Melaka has its touristy places - but I am not a tourist.  The traffic is a buggar at weekends due to the influx of Singaporeans.  Its 60 mins from KLIA and 70 mins to KLCC.  To us thats part of its beauty.

And food and drink at double Penang prices.  That is not the Melaka that I know.  I think you were just unlucky.

I would recommend that anyone looking at  Penang Vs Melaka  takes time to fully explore both locations over many days if not weeks.    Live like a local and not like a tourist, otherwise you will not get the true picture

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I'm a bit off the topic, and apologies for that, but as a visitor (not someone who wants to live there), where would you recommend to stay in Melaka, or near Melaka, for nice walks, nice parks, not too touristy, nice eateries and bars?  Clearly we didn't pick the right bit 

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Penang is a lovely place with many conveniences within easy reach. But, the traffic is getting too much these couple of years and I think it'll get worse.
Was in Malacca a few months ago. It's cleaner and smaller than Penang. The traffic is just as bad on the week ends. Walking and shopping at the wk-end night market is more enjoyable and interesting than the one in B.Ferringhi. The Nyonya food taste slightly different but they are good, about the same price as the good one in Kelawei Rd (don't take my word regarding the pricing as I'm not good at remembering exact prices). It's in a small row shop house in a side road off the night market street and runs by a 3rd generation Nyonya.
On our way out of the city core in the evening we ran into a wild gang of Mat Rampits at the traffic intersection. That really put me off as it wasn't even after dark. All the cars stopped just to avoid the gang. The Penang Mat Rampit are not that bold to ride at dusk.
I'm thinking in the long term when we are older,ingneed to down size in Pg and having to travel between KLIA and Putrajaya, an alternative place near these two spots and yet accessible to KL and Malacca for visits at times would be ideal. Thus we looked into Putra Nilai in N. Sembilan. Just planning for the future 

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More or less still on topic.  We are consdiering both Malacca and Penang.  It seems from what I have read so far that most MM2h people in Penang will live in aparetments.  How do property prices compare between the 2 locations?  I understand that in Penang the minium price is 250,000 whilst in Malacca it is 500,000 but do you get more for your buck in Malacca?  Do many MM2h people live in houses in Penang?  Clearly thre is a much bigger expat community in Penang but have many MM2h folks chosen Malacca and if so why.

Brian