Why 2008/2009 is a good time to be in Malaysia

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Whenever I speak to friends and family in the UK, Europe etc, they all seem to be moaning about the cost of living, property prices, worries about the economy.

This lead me to think how lucky am I (we are) being here?

The weather is (generally) good,
Food is cheap providing you don't eat at the flashy places. I know food has gone up over the past 6 months buts lets be realistic its not expensive in 'real terms'
Petrol is cheap!! when I tell friends and family about what we are paying they think I'm joking!!
Electricity, water etc is cheap
High quality hotel accomodation is cheap
Providing you shop around, most things are comparetively cheap!
Economic growth in Malaysia will still be in positive territory even if things become even more pants in the rest of the world
The politics here could be trouble, but things are clearer now than 2 months ago and its something you learn to live with
Borrowing costs are low and may get even lower in the next month or so
If you have Ringgits you are quite probably 'quids in' now
EVERY penny/cent you have here is now guaranteed by the government to 2010

The gripes people may have about living in a city (KL or Penang etc) are the same in most major cities of the world. every city has a groove and you just have to find it and follow it, once in it, you put with up with the hassles but offset them against all the benefits we have here 
 
Property- now this is always a hot topic, in the last Asian Crisis, the best located properties only dropped by 10% if at all, other areas suffered more, but when anyone buys they should at least do their homework and make sure that they buy a property that covers all bases. Prices here are cheap and in my opinion the 'right' properties won't drop much if at all even in a global slowdown. Admittedly there may be some forced selling at reduced prices but if anyone predicts that property prices will crash here, I just cannot see it happening. I realise that a comment such as this may open me to a lot of stick but its just my opinion, everyone is entitled to one!

Over the past year I have moaned about various things, things I didn't understand about the culture, in many respects I was a little naive and ignorant. Last night I friend of mine from a Malaysian pop band called KRU invited my wife and I to a private 'open house' in Country Heights (fans get a seperate one so this was just friends and family). There must have been two hundred people there including other personalities government ministers and normal people like my wife and I. Everyone dropped the ego at the door - no facades and I was suprised at just how kind, generous and down to earth people were, there was no pretences, one-upmanship or showing off. Just nice people, looking out for each other, no drunks making a fool, no arguments, the children were all well behaved, Malays, Chinese, indians and two Brits all having a good time.
 
My thoughts/experiences may differ from others, buts thats all they are thoughts and experiences.
I just wanted to put something in writing for visitors to this site looking to find a better place to be, we have a lot to cheer about here and I felt that any new visitors to the forum would just see all the doom and gloom we have posted recently and think that things are the same world over - I believe that they are not.
If others on the forum can think of a better place to be than Malaysia at the moment then I am sure we would like to know!

Paul

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hi,

Thanks, Paul.

I've just spent most of 2008 in Lagos in the Algarve - southern Portugal. I have met quite a few Brits (and Irish, and Germans, and Norwegians) who have retired here, or have holiday homes. They think that it's wonderful. But then, they've never been to Malaysia, or anywhere else in SE Asia.

I also spent 3 months in the UK. Never again, I hope, in this life or the next.

I'm trying to sell my house here and get back to Malaysia as soon as possible. If it doesn't sell shortly I'll close it up and just get back to a more easygoing and mannered part of the world.

regards, Scott

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Hi Scott

I agree with totally about your comment concerning the UK, since I have been here in Malaysia I have had not yet had the urge to go back.

From the little I know of the Algarve I can imagine it would be a nice place to have spent most of this year, can you let us know what it is about the Algarve that allows the people you met to have the 'wonderful life'? And how does it compare for things like cost of living, property prices and is it affected by the worlds economic problems / rising costs etc?!

Additional question
'Scott said'
If it doesn't sell shortly I'll close it up and just get back to a more easygoing and mannered part of the world.
Are you talking about Malaysia??!

Many thanks

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hi,

My apologies, I came across this post which I had missed. The Brits/Germans etc, that I have met, who have retired to the Algarve think that it's wonderful because of the climate. However it's still cold and wet in November, December, January and February.

And it's expensive. And since the introduction of the euro it's really expensive.

Portugal has one of the highest tax regimes in Europe, plus 20% VAT (IVA). It's bureaucratic, Socialist, and for the most part seems to be quaintly set in the 50's or 60's.

Except the Algarve which, for 6 months of the year, is full of boozy, loud-mouthed tourists. I was pleased to sell up and leave, having had the property for 22 years and only ever spending a total of about 1.1/2 years there.

A more easy-going and mannered part of the world is SE Asia.

regards, Scott

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Hi Scott

That makes my discussions with the significant other half easier. I suppose like most people we always think that the grass is greener on the other side, living here in KL seems to be working out okay, the cost of living is reasonable and so on, but then one or two things happen that 'wind' you up and its gets you thinking what about living in Spain or other countries etc??

Malaysia from my limited prespective offers us far more (at this moment) than other countries looking at all the doom and gloom out there. As you know we have recently moved and are getting used to things that seem fairly normal to most living here, but to us is a shock. For example, the odd cockroach, mossies, lizards (cicaks) which when they get in cr*p everywhere, ants, and now wild cats that somehow get over our 7 foot wall and cr*p outside the front door!! - luckily the pest control man is coming over today to create armaggedon!

I did get a let off last week, I drove to an area called Puchong and on my way back along the highway was pulled by the police (along with various others) for speeding - to be honest I quite possibly was as like many I follow the flow of the traffic. The police asked for my licence and told me that I was going to give me a summons and the fine was 300rm. I kept telling him 'I do not understand you' and used the old English trick of talking slower and louder to him in English, he called over another policeman to help him and by this time I was getting pretty frustrated. He went through the same 'speil' again and I did the same to him as the previous policeman. I said 'just give me a ticket and I will pay you now' and brought out a small wad. I think he though I was trying to bribe him!! He then get angry, (so did I) he gave me back my licence and just started to shout 'go...go...you go..leave" etc. So maybe a bit of ignorance does work!

Cheers

Paul

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hi, corporateangel,

Nice story about the traffic cop. I had a similar experience in Portugal. I had to fake crying but it worked.

Spain may be more cheerful than Portugal. Generally Portugal, especially the north and eastern regions, is a country that gives me the impression of the people there having had a hard life. It's 35 years ago, but Salazar obviously didn't do anyone any favours.

The Algarve is different. It's highly built-up, condo and urbanisations everywhere. Plenty of marinas and golf-courses. I suppose the local Portugese see the "wealthy" outsiders as richer than they are, so there must be some resentment. Or most folks are seen as tourists and a source of income, you don't have to like rice to harvest it. Foreigners have put up the prices. No doubt Lisbon would be different.

My neighbours were Brits. They adored the place. Plenty of sunbathing, lots of golf buddies, a bottle of plonk cheaper than water. And ultra-cheap flights back to the UK every few weeks.

I feel more comfortable in Malaysia. Folks either speak a bit of English, or I can get by on my smattering of Bahasa Melayu.

And it's all so much cheaper here from pirated VCDs to petrol to rent/property.

I'm sure that, worldwide, in any country that holds reasonable elections, its the same universal "government" aspiring to be regarded as visionaries with legacies, but really being pretty dumb and/or greedy thugs most of the time. Same local councils wasting local taxes. Same bureaucratic rubbish no matter Perak, or the Algarve, or Derby. Except I don't pay as much for it in Malaysia.

No income tax, no VAT, no need to get irritated at seeing my money going down the plug hole.

And the Malaysians that I have met over the past few years have been very friendly. And, unlike the UK, there's little moaning. I've never had anyone in Malaysia say to me that the best thing to do is leave. In the UK I was told almost weekly, "don't come back here and stay."

At my place we've also got a surfeit of cicaks, and when I get back after 1 year, jeez, the guano is going to be something. We've also got toads that squeeze under the front door and pee on the tiles (I don't know why). And monkeys that take off the roof tiles (the contractor relied on gravity instead of nails), and jump around on the awnings, boy what a noise. And rats in the attic.

We back onto a patch of forest and it's great. Papaya trees in the front garden, and an easygoing attitude that escapes me in Portugal.

regards, Scott