We never planned to retire early and we never planned to live in Penang but the life of the expat (as every expat will tell you) works in mysterious ways with many twists and turns that you don’t expect.

We had visited a few places in Malaysia over the years, and some locations we liked, but had never found a place with that special comfort factor – somewhere that felt like it would be “home”.  We were already living in south-east Asia, having worked then retired elsewhere in the region, when we decided to book a short trip to Penang.  We did the research on the internet, as you do.  We went with a completely open mind and decided if we liked it a little bit, we’d book a return visit and do more research, scratch the surface a bit more.  And if we didn’t take to it, then we’d get back to the drawing board and check out some more places around the region.  Anyway…we both liked it.

Penang (or Pulao Pinang if you want to be correct and proper) is a nice melting pot of different races and religions and a mish-mash of working expats and retirees from around the globe, as well as the locals.  The local Penangites are predominantly Chinese racially but there are also many Indians and Malays.  And just about everyone speaks English which is very handy as we’re Brits.

The island has a colonial past, though now part of Malaysia of course.  I chuckled on one of our early visits, when we struck up a conversation with a Malay muslim guy in a café and he started telling me about some English history, and realised that this guy knew far more about English history than I did.  Well I never was brilliant at history but he explained that anyone over the age of 40 would have had the full English education here.

So, after our first visit, more research and we decided to go for it and apply for the MM2H visa.  This stands for Malaysia My Second Home.  The visa rules and regulations get tweaked from time to time so I wouldn’t wish to go into great detail here, or I’ll be forever updating this article.  But there is a government website which gives all the up-to-date requirements and benefits.  As the title suggests, you don’t have to be living full time in Malaysia and don’t even have to be old or retired for that matter.  Some folks like to get the visa while still working, in order to satisfy the financial requirements.  Many retirees that we have met here spend time back in their “home country” and the rest of the year in Malaysia.  A number of Brits spend the summers back in ol’ Blighty then “winter over” in Penang.  Perfect if you can afford to do so.  It’s a 10 year renewable visa.  Once you’ve qualified for it, you can keep renewing every 10 years until you’ve left the planet.

There’s many things we like about the place.  Just off the top of my head, the atmosphere is nice here.  It’s very laid back (ahem… apart from the driving) and everyone we’ve met so far has been friendly and welcoming.  The cost of living – so important in retired life – is quite low.  Very affordable.  You can buy property here or you can rent.  You can buy a car or rely on the bus service Rapid Penang, which my friends tell me is very good.  I’m a car driver myself.  Then there’s the famous Penang food… this really requires a separate article to cover all the fabulous flavours and cuisines available, and so cheap too.

And there’s the weather.  Some might find it a bit too hot, especially compared with the weather in the UK, but you do get used to it.  The weather here hovers around 30 degrees much of the time and can be quite humid especially in the summer months.  After a big downpour it can get as low as 24 degrees.  That’s about as low as it gets.  But there’s always air conditioning if you’re not used to the high temperatures, and electricity is way, way cheaper than the UK.

What else?  There’s good hospitals, dentists, shopping centres.  There’s supermarkets – Tesco, Carrefour and Cold Storage (and probably others too).  There’s local markets, open in the mornings, where you can buy fresh fruit and veggies, freshly slaughtered meat and fish and seafood and all sorts of local produce – noodles, tofu, fishballs, herbs and spices.  Penang has an international airport in the south of the island with direct flights to many interesting places in south east Asia and, for long distance travel, it’s a short flight to KL (Kuala Lumpur) or Singapore where you can pick up flights to mostly anywhere really.

Just to dispel a little myth, Malaysia is not a muslim country per se, though Islam is the country’s official religion.  It’s a de facto secular country where you’ll find a whole range of religions and beliefs being practised, ranging from Islam to Christianity to Buddhism to probably many others.  In Penang you’ll find many churches as well as Buddhist and Indian temples and mosques too.

And just in case you are wondering, yes, alcohol is freely available for those who wish to and are allowed to, and you’ll find plenty of bars and pubs here.  On that note, I’m off for a glug of something and a bowl of spicy noodles – Cheers!!

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