On principle, I have decided not to apply for the MM2H Programme

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Gidday Spider,
I think you should ask a removalist company or two in Sydney, the cost of packing and moving a 20 foot container filled with your personal affects from Sydney to Penang. Door to door.
Remember that you need to insure it all against loss and that is about 20% on top of the removal cost.
On the other hand, it might be cheaper to sell your Aussie furniture and buy new in Penang.
Being retired, you may want to minimise anyway, and therefore the sell/buy furniture may be a better solution.
Any move is fraught with drama, difficulties etc. You really have to soul search even if you are moving up the road, so just think it through knowing your financial and emotional costs going forward.
Cheers & Beers,
JAYDEE

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Hi Spider
a relocation from your home to a foreign country is never an easy thing. That is why Malysia is perfect.
Off season Air Asia flights A$600. Hotels A$50 a night very comfortable and even cheaper. Day to day living costs as a tourist A$20 per day at most.
Try before you move and try often and slowly. Walk the streets of Georgetown, sit in the coffee shops, gaze out on the sea, eat the food and most importantly meet the people.  You may find that you love it. If not what have you lost.
Enjoy 

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I am new to the forum.  Can someone tell me if it is worth joining the MM2H program? 

Spider

Cannot answer the Aussie bits as I'm not an Aussie but, to the above question, it's a good visa if you want to be in Asia full-time or a lot of the time.  Going to Immigration every 10 years is somewhat easier than going to Immigration every 90 days (for reporting) and annually (to get visa) in Thailand where I am currently.

And Donohue's posting says it all.  With the A$ being so strong these days, it's cheap for you to try before you buy.

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hi, spider,

I agree with all the above posts.

If you're going to spend 6 months in Oz, then 3 months in Thailand and 3 months in Malaysia - or some version of this - OK, visa runs are OK.

But they get tedious quickly. And I found that arranging my whole life around the duration of a visa was very limiting. It's like going to the library and borrowing a book a chapter at a time. Sometimes you just want to finish the book and move on to something else.

A 10-year mm2h visa (renewable) costs having the cash in an FD with a almost reasonable rate of interest, and it's tax free. And you can take it out and leave anytime.

Malaysia is an easy place in which to live.

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Yap, MM2H visa is a good visa. Like Scott and others have mentioned I find my travels are not dictated by the 3 monthly visa expiry dates or travel when I don't feel like it but must. It's affordable here and best of all no winters..where I came from it's a moderate winter if it's -20C 

BB

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Thank you for your replies,

I am just getting old and cranky.  I don't want to be disloyal to Australia (and Sydney in particular).  I have been a little bit loyal to Aussie having done 40 years in Defence and my father died of war injuries but I am not keen on this younger generation.  I am generalising but they are all rude, full of road rage, impatient.  You can't have a quiet drink anywhere without some drunk being obnoxious, swearing etc etc...I have to get out of here.  Malaysia here I come.  I haven't been there for awhile but being ex-Navy I know it from the old days.  My wife and I married in Singapore in 73 (she was posted there with the Oz Army)....


MM2H is looking good


Spider

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Hi Spider,

Re moving costs: We're paying $1600 for a 20 foot container door-to-door Darwin => JB. Self pack / unpack.

Good luck with it!

Cheers
Poul

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but I am not keen on this younger generation.  I am generalising but they are all rude, full of road rage, impatient.  You can't have a quiet drink anywhere without some drunk being obnoxious, swearing etc etc...I have to get out of here.  Malaysia here I come.
MM2H is looking good
Spider

Crime happens everywhere but some are more horrendous than others. In Pg just be aware of snatch thieves.
Just read the news - sad that the youngsters even attacked and seriously injured a Canadian in wheel chair  
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/10/2841775.htm?section=justin

Appeal after 'cowardly' attack on disabled tourist

Updated Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:03pm AEDT

    * Video: Attack on disabled man 'sickening' (7pm TV News NSW)
    * Map: Mount Druitt 2770
    * Related Story: Tourist bashed with pole from his own wheelchair

The girlfriend of a wheelchair-bound man who was bashed at a railway station in Sydney's west last night has described the attack as cowardly.

The 35-year-old Canadian man is having surgery for a fractured skull, after police say he was attacked with metal poles and stomped on at Mount Druitt.

Detectives say the attack was prolonged and unprovoked.

Police have arrested a 17-year-old male and are still looking for another teenager.

The injured man's girlfriend, Kristin Sharrock, says she feel sick when she thinks about what happened.

"It's a cowardly, horrendous, horrific thing that they've done," she said.

"If anyone knows who the second offender is, [we ask] for them to come forward with any information.

"Let's get them off the street and stop it from happening to anybody else."

The Police Minister Michael Daley says his thoughts are with the victim.

"We know he's in hospital getting the very best of medical attention," he said.

"We hope and we're confident that he'll be okay.

I want to congratulate the police for not only being on site in two minutes but having made an arrest so quickly."

Police are hoping CCTV footage will help them find the other suspect.

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on .

Tags: law-crime-and-justice, crime, assault, australia, nsw, mount-druitt-2770

First posted Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:23pm AEDT


BB

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Crime happens everywhere but some are more horrendous than others. In Pg just be aware of snatch thieves.

BB

One has to be realistic & street-smart when coming to any developing country. In particular, petty crime associated with poverty will always be present, so do not be shocked if you come across or become victim to home burglary or purse snatching. At worse, any Malaysian resident (local or expat) might fall victim to armed robbers at home or in dark public places. However, even in such unfortunate cases, there is almost never any gratuitous violence, unlike that case of the poor Canadian tourist who was beaten senseless by two thugs in Sydney's Central Station. Thus the smart thing to do (in Malaysia, that is) is to give up one's valuables without any resistance when confronted by armed thugs. Valuables can be replaced, life & limb cannot.

One unfortunate friend of ours fell victim to a purse snatcher twice over the last 10 years. The first time she was injured when dragged along the road while holding tight to her purse. The second time she threw her purse over the fence of an adjoining house & escaped unhurt - her purse was still stolen by the thief who non-chalantly climbed over the fence to retrieve the purse! I think she has learnt her lesson & now stick to walking along the pavements, facing oncoming traffic, with few valuables in her handbag.

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Thank you for your replies,

I am just getting old and cranky.  I don't want to be disloyal to Australia (and Sydney in particular).  I have been a little bit loyal to Aussie having done 40 years in Defence and my father died of war injuries but I am not keen on this younger generation.  I am generalising but they are all rude, full of road rage, impatient.  You can't have a quiet drink anywhere without some drunk being obnoxious, swearing etc etc...I have to get out of here.  Malaysia here I come.  I haven't been there for awhile but being ex-Navy I know it from the old days.  My wife and I married in Singapore in 73 (she was posted there with the Oz Army)....


MM2H is looking good


Spider

You're not being disloyal - if you move, you will be an Australian expat - still Aussie  and there seems to be plenty of Aussies in Penang and on this forum too.  Do remember to go with an open mind though, and don't expect Malaysia to be the same Malaya from days gone by.  Everywhere changes over time.