Yve

My husband and I are thinking of moving to KL. How developed is it? What is life like for Europeans? Is it a prob only speaking English? Is KL multicultural? How expensive? Foreigners welcomed? We have small children, how is crime and safety compared to London? Is it clean? What do you hate? What are our visa options? Any replies appreciated. Thank you.

firefox

Hi why dont you go and visit for a week or so I love KL but would not live there due to it been to busy i would live further upnorth and it would be cheaper too.
firefox

joamelie

I have just moved to Kl with my husband and daughter. We love it! Ok we have only been here a week. We came out for a couple of weeks in the summer to for a look around, i'd highly recommend that you do the same as i'm sure it's not everyone's thing.
How developed is it....very...when you are in the bid shopping centres it's much like being in the UK M&S, Mango, Mothercare etc.
We only speak English and we've had no problems so far!
Malaysia is very multicultural and very accepting of different cultures....and by the way, Christmas time is turning out to be great out here in a Muslim country. Last night we watched a Christmas show in a mall surrounded by Santa hats and Christmas trees.
What do i hate...nothing yet, but i'm sure i'll find something given time.
Visa options you need to find work before you come out, and then they will sort that out for you.
Good luck in making your decision

Yve

Thanks!

ajw

Pro's: Cheaper cost of living (mostly)
Being able to have help in the home (if this is of interest to you)
Accessibility to SE Asia, lots of travel opportunities.
The weather
Great food
Friendly people
Easy to meet other expats


Cons: Cost of buying a car
Cost of buying alcohol
Local drivers
Crime (bag snatching, robberies etc - not to mention the stories you hear about child kidnapping but I havent worked out whether thats true yet or not).
The weather (the heat gets too much sometimes and it can be difficult to head out with children)

Yve

ajw do you have children, if so what ages? Child kidnapping, is that rumours or from the local news, tv, local or foreign children...thats worrying.

Yve

Has anyone you known been a victim of crime?

ajw

I have a 4 year old and a 10 month old baby.

Dont know anyone who has been a victim of the child kidnapping crime which is why I'm not sure how true the rumours are. However, walking past the banks in Bangsar there are always posters up the window, pictures of children who have been taken. I've also heard that one child a week disappears from 1 Utama (a shopping centre here). Who knows? They certainly dont publicise it. You've just got to be careful, like anywhere I suppose.

Yve

Are these Local children or foreign too?

ajw

Local kids.

Strider24

I've lived in Malaysia off and on a total of 18 years. In that time I had one break-in and that back in the 80's. Asians (see Chinese in particular) are fantastic rumour mongers and story tellers....so while there can be a grain of truth in the rumours, its mostly just rumours.

The fact that in a country of 28mil there is newspaper space for these minor crimes, tells me there is desperation for a bad news story. I know in Australia, these stories wouldn't even make the back page....and I still can't speak any local language...bar the few important words like "one more beer please" in Malay, Hokkien, Mandarin and Cantonese. In Tamil just empty the glass and it will be refilled.

Malaysia is the place to have a very acceptable lifestyle at an affordable price.

MrMark

Nice post, I love it. How can you find work before coming over? I visited Malaysia before and I loved it. I want to find away to get a contract for year and try it out to see if I want to stay in KL.

Can you tell me where did you look to find work?

Thanks,
Mark

mnicol

Hi Mark,

I found my job through an advert on the internet and following a phone interview was on a plane out here. 3 years later and I've not looked back.

I live in Johor Bahru, just across the water from Singapore and all I heard before I moved here (and since from expats in Singapore) was how dangerous Malaysia (especially JB) is. Well, I can honestly say that apart from my car window being smashed once (outside a bike shop, nothing was stolen I guess they just wanted me to know not to park there again!), I've never had any issues with crime.

If you are keen to move here then try looking on places like jobstreet.com.my or mystarjob.com though there are rarely 'expat' jobs advertised. A lot of people come here with MNCs or through people they know.

Hope this helps and good luck!

bakedbean

We could do with a JB thread on here. I've never been there.

MrMark

Hi mnicol,

Thanks for the reply and info. I really appreciated it.

I visited JB in 1999 I actually liked it, especially Desaru and Tioman Island. Downtown was small then, I am sure it has changed a lot now. I will take your advice and look in the sites you mentioned. Thanks again

Mark
From Vancouver.