The Good Things about Living in Malaysia

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hi,

I'll link this thread to the other threads about pretty much the same thing but not now as I've got to clean the new second-hand merc of which I am very proud.

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Ummmmmmmmmm. I am thinking

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Slow thread..

Some things are cheap:

Petrol
Electricity
Water
Property
Cooked food
Hired help
Public transport

I also believe that Malaysia is the easiest place in Asia to get credit.

I'll try to think in depth for a few more, however I'm on this forum to say things the way I see them and try to provide as much information as I can, I am not going to try to 'sugar coat' things to make people feel better about coming to live here. When I lived in other countries I was vocal about things I didn't like, as JJ and FCS and others have stated, people need a full picture from all areas to enable them to make an informed judgement.

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Just a few more to add to the positives

* there is still a lot of 'respect' shown to 'older people' and indeed 'white' foreigners
* generally the people are so nice and polite, especially if you smile first.
* the wide range of hawker/restaurant food is both tasty and cheap
* the golf courses are lovely, non exclusive and not that expensive
* as a base for travel within Asia it is as good as Singapore.
* contrary to a number of posts, I still believe Malaysia is a lot 'safer' than the UK
* 5 star hotels and resorts within Malaysia are bargains
* health costs - dentist / doctor / hospital are very affordable
* Air Asia
* Its never COLD!!!!
* no hayfever
* Malaysia is full of beautiful places to see/visit/enjoy - from beaches to lakes to mountains ...........

There must be loads more but this is just off the top of my head.

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My reasons for choosing Penang/Malaysia and probably in this order.  (I am currently in Phuket for those that don't know.)

*  10 year renewable visa (I can only get 1 year rather precarious visa in Thailand)
*  English speaking
*  Other couples to socialize and interact with who live there full time (expat couples very rare in Phuket and usually only around in the high season)
*  Good food and availability of produce
*  Plenty of things to do/activities/clubs if I choose to do so (nice to have the option)

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Over the past couple of years I have written a large number of positives about Living in Malaysia, much of what I have written still stands true.
Here are just a couple of the positive things I have written, there is no need to rewrite things that have been gone over, time and time again. I would urge all people that contribute to and visit the forum to use the search facility, rather than just read one topic and base the views within this as general concensus. Everyone on this forum has written positives about living in Malaysia, most writing more positives than negatives. As I and many others constantly say in the economic articles section, 'Do your own research'.

In the past I have knocked KL City/KLCC but wherever I live I'll find something to moan about..
The reason that I still live in KL is that within Malaysia I cannot think of anywhere else that offers me access to the things I need.

I live in a beautiful bungalow one mile (as the crow flies) from the Petronas towers and its about as quiet a place as you can be in. Aside from every month a neighbour has a get together and make some noise until about 2:00 in the morning, but thats what you get when you live in an area like we do, they work hard, they have the money and want to enjoy themselves and show off what they have. Coming from a tiny village consisting of 23 houses in the UK countryside, any noise etc gets on my nerve!


Nightime view from our balcony towards the Petronas Towers

I have instant access to more shops, restaurants, bars, hospitals, medical centres, etc.. than anywhere else in the country.
I have the monorail that makes travelling around the city easy
Taxi drivers now are being sensible so I pay a meter charge, unlike my experience in Penang
I have the MM2H centre closeby, along with all the major government departments that I may need to deal with
Every major bank head office is easily accessible
The longer I have lived here the more I understand how things work
I am now starting to meet more expats and have an improving social life, meeting people of my own age.
The pool of friends that I have teach me what and who they know, making general day to day living much simpler


Us with the band LadyLike, their manager and Yusry from KRU

There are many many more benefits to living in Kuala Lumpur that I am sure others will add to, In a nutshell I have the best access to all the things I personally need.

Its the same as asking anyone that lives in a major city, why they live there. Its swings and roundabouts, people in Penang/Melaka moan at not being able to access things, I moan at not being close to the sea etc..

I don't want people that live outside of Malaysia to think that KL is all doom and gloom, its not. Moaners like me will always pick holes in whatever we have wherever we are.
KL has given us a chance to do things, see things and meet people that we would never had been able to do.

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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Reading Corp Angel's postings, I'm thinking that all he needs is a little peaceful bolthole maybe in Langkawi or somewhere like that, to recharge batteries in between the partying in KL 

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Where's Rainbow when we need him?

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Good and bad things to live in Malaysia. Happy reading! 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/business/article/expats-in-malaysia-among-regions-poorest-but-happier

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Of course they are only talking about working expats and a lot of us MM2Hers are retired.  But it's back to that old cherry of Scott's, isn't it?  Work and make money in Singapore, then go spend it in Malaysia 

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hi, sunflower11,

This thread is mainly about the experiences and opinions of my2homers living in Malaysia. Articles on working expats are pretty much chalk to cheese to MM2H.

OK, it's marginally interesting but on something like this you really need to have a personal take on it to make it relevant. Otherwise it's really cut & paste chit-chat.

Are you on the MM2H visa scheme?

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No ill intention. Just thought it is a interesting survey to share, as it rightly portrays the strengths and weaknesses of this country.

The remarks is very strong! What is going on?

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Flower

I would guess it relates to a discussion on the forum a little while ago about trying to keep the forum as close as possible to MM2H matters after it was drifting into a more general chit chat.

Although nothing was set in stone the consensus was that the forum should stay more focused on matters that are relevant to the forums name, but at the same time not eliminating some social chit chat

Cheers

JJ

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hi,

The remark isn't strong. It's admin finding out what's going on, letting you know how it sees the forum, and wanting to know if you're on/planning MM2H as this is an MM2H forum.

We're aiming to keep the bulk of the forum more focused on MM2h matters. This means that marginal, or non-MM2H items, need to be in chit-chat. You post a You-Tube link to Senator Obama speaking at a "Moms Rising" event on Capitol Hill  . . .  in the Penang International School's thread. It's off-topic and is not focused on the interest of the thead.

Just as an article on "Expats working in KL" in a thread on my2homers experiences of Malaysia is also off-topic.

So a member looking through the recent posts sees this and thinks, "hey, I'm affected by that, I'll read it" and gets what has been referred to, in the context of the expectation, as drivel.

I've already moved a couple of your posts to Chit-Chat. Admin lets new members get a feel for things but you now have 19 posts.

All members have been playing a part in keeping the forum focused, please join in with us on this.

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The good things about living in malaysia? For me is cheaper than living in Austria. So ,cheap is good. No more winter coats no more winter shoes, it is good!


Cheers,
Shirley