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Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Old Feb 14th 2014, 1:25 pm
  #1  
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Default Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

So we get an email saying my partner will receive the higher salary of £56,000 and will be on the Malaysian tax rate. All housing and utilities will be met. And a serviced company car provided.

Great we thought!! Then the bombshell.....

Education for our two children NOT included!! Eek!

This scares me as it was always something we thought would be covered?

So what I'm basically asking is do you guys think it is a reasonable offer and would you take it?

Do you think it is possible on that wage to still have a good standard of living after school fees? I am paying for two to go through primary school at alice smith? but may need to look at cheaper options if this is not possible?
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Old Feb 14th 2014, 3:13 pm
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Hi Toni,

First off congratulations.
I'm not living in Malaysia yet but I'm thinking of moving there and have been doing similar research these days. And my wife is also Malaysian Chinese.
So whilst the experts come online let me tell you what I have gathered so far.

Firstly not sure if you need to pay UK tax, but if you don't the tax rate in Malaysia is considerably lower. And hopefully you might find that the tax savings could be a significant help towards the education fees.

Also do you currently send your kids to private school? I'm assuming you are not doing so in UK.

I guess this is also highly dependant on two things. How much salary increase this will be. And also if this is a positive influence in the future career as a whole since potential future earnings increase off the back of this expat experience could sway your decision significantly.

Also if you currently own a house. The rental income you get from that whilst you have accommodation provided for during your stay and even the savings on rental cost you would have been payin here can be thought as an increase in salary probably more than enough to cover education costs.

Living costs although dependant on what you do, is relatively very cheap in Malaysia with food and petrol being more or less 5 times cheaper than uk it seems.

Also how old are you kids? Would you be removing them from UK during a key stage of their education. If not couple years abroad can be a wealth of experience for your children widening their views and I think this could be priceless in some ways.

Royce

Last edited by Royce; Feb 14th 2014 at 3:16 pm.
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Old Feb 14th 2014, 3:24 pm
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

It is a slight pay increase but taking into consideration the lower tax and no bills except education it means we will have far more expendable income than here in the uk. But education is astronomical! And it does scare me that the price of this may increase on our 4 years secondment and our income will not.

Our kids are reception and year 2. I am just worried that we move there thinking it all sounds great only to realise that we won't be able to afford extra curricular things etc. even the whole registration process costs a fortune.

Very much agree on the experience front for the kids though!! Really want them to see that there is more to life than here.
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Old Feb 15th 2014, 8:12 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Originally Posted by Toni_9
So we get an email saying my partner will receive the higher salary of £56,000 and will be on the Malaysian tax rate. All housing and utilities will be met. And a serviced company car provided.
come on, £56k only for food and school?
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Old Feb 15th 2014, 8:23 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

SteveMY I wish!! We will also need to cover the cost of a second car, broadband, mobile phones, Malaysian taxes and food. Which I know doesn't seem much but when you consider that schooling will take a massive £20,000 off that plus we are about £6000 in registration fees I am still a little concerned.

Apologies if I am offending or sounding ridiculous. But we really need to try and save while away for if we ever come home and I am not sure we will manage to do that?
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Old Feb 15th 2014, 10:07 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

There are plenty of cheaper International primary schools in K.L.
ELC, International school in Desa Park City and Beaconhouse.
We pay for schools too, so I understand where you're coming from.
Also in the process of scoping out primary for our daughter for January 2015.

Where will/would you guys be living if you make the move?
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Old Feb 15th 2014, 11:08 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Would depend on where they go to school to be honest. We had originally looked at alice smith and would be staying in bangsar but school is the most important thing to me so will base most decisions round that. If I could be within walking distance of school we wouldn't need a second car the same so that would cut costs. I looked at desa park and thought it was in the same bracket as alice smith and the others. Will look into it again

Seriously considering elc and also eaton house at the moment.
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Old Feb 16th 2014, 6:24 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Keep in mind that many of the schools will increase their fees each year. Alice Smith increases theirs by around 8% each year and similar standard international schools will be at a comparable level.

You really need to take a look at the schools in person before committing. There is quite a significant difference between something like Eaton House and Alice Smith.

Last edited by ajw; Feb 16th 2014 at 6:27 am.
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Old Feb 16th 2014, 8:03 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Really ajw? What about elc? It seems a lot cheaper? I have heard a lot of bad reports regarding the quality of the teachers there though. But if we care covering the costs ourselves we might need to lower our standards a bit.

We move out in July but hubby there from march so going to come over in march for a couple of weeks and look round them all and see what we think.

I just hope I am not too depressed with what our budget can cover! Lol.
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Old Feb 16th 2014, 8:14 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Are your Children in private or local schools at the moment?

If you dig deep enough you'll hear/read just as many mixed reviews for the top end international schools as you the lower end.
It's the same in any school, in any town or city, in any country you find yourself in. A lot of the reviews may be genuine or stem from disgruntled parents for one reason or another.

The only way to be certain is contact the school, arrange to meet with the head and take a list of questions to interview THEM with. I'd avoid 'Open days' too as you can't pin anyone down long enough to get decent answers.

AJW is completely right on the yearly increase too. This is standard form from all of the schools we've looked at. As well as the yearly form increase you'll find yourself forking out for extra activities, uniforms, travel for the kids, school trips, books etc. Not all of it is covered in the fees in some of the schools you previously mentioned.
A lot of of the expat Children at these schools have their education funded by their parents employers as part of an agreed package.

I'm meeting with ELC, International house, Eaton house (KLCC) and Beacon house in the coming weeks-I'd be more than happy to feedback to you.

Last edited by ruby_tuesday; Feb 16th 2014 at 8:17 am.
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Old Feb 19th 2014, 8:52 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Have you checked out the new Epsom College opening in Sept? Might be worth a look.
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Old Feb 19th 2014, 2:09 pm
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Originally Posted by ruby_tuesday
Are your Children in private or local schools at the moment?

If you dig deep enough you'll hear/read just as many mixed reviews for the top end international schools as you the lower end.
It's the same in any school, in any town or city, in any country you find yourself in. A lot of the reviews may be genuine or stem from disgruntled parents for one reason or another.

The only way to be certain is contact the school, arrange to meet with the head and take a list of questions to interview THEM with. I'd avoid 'Open days' too as you can't pin anyone down long enough to get decent answers.

AJW is completely right on the yearly increase too. This is standard form from all of the schools we've looked at. As well as the yearly form increase you'll find yourself forking out for extra activities, uniforms, travel for the kids, school trips, books etc. Not all of it is covered in the fees in some of the schools you previously mentioned.
A lot of of the expat Children at these schools have their education funded by their parents employers as part of an agreed package.

I'm meeting with ELC, International house, Eaton house (KLCC) and Beacon house in the coming weeks-I'd be more than happy to feedback to you.

Would be very greatful if you could if you could feedback. Like you say the hidden extra costs it what makes schools like Alice and gardens out of the question. We could cover the fees (just) but we would be tight and the extras might not be a possibility.

Here are the ones We are currently looking at and my brief first impressions:

elc- seems too good to be true for the fees. Lol. And a bit out of town but I'm still quite impressed going by reviews and the website.

Eton- I love the look of and love the fact that a uniform and meals etc is all included in the price. But the location worries me due to the lack of space/facilities compared to the others. And of course traffic. Going only on the website I was also not impressed by the lack of curriculum info for the older students. But this could just be as its new. But as a preschool I like it.

Sri KDU- also a bit out of town. Can't find much info/reviews on it. Perhaps as its new. But the fees are very reasonable and seems very well equipped.

ISP- at desa park. Love the look of this school and area. Going on jest impressions it's my favourite so far. A bit more expensive and probably at the top end of our budget. But if my research is correct I could get a condo within walking distance to school. So would cut the cost of a second car as we wouldn't need one.

Going to look into beacon and international house. I have never heard of these before so will have a look.

We are hoping to fly out in march to do viewings/assessments/registrations.

Hope your visits go well. Can't wait to hear how you get on. I'm just trying to do as much research as I can at the moment love this forum for words of wisdom.
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Old Feb 19th 2014, 2:12 pm
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Originally Posted by JKLMAL14
Have you checked out the new Epsom College opening in Sept? Might be worth a look.
Thanks will have a look. When I first started researching I always seemed to come across all the mainstream int schools. Quite glad education isn't covered actually. Seems like a blessing in disguise now as I am realising there are so many other good schools in KL.
thanks again!
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Old Feb 22nd 2014, 2:32 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Hi Toni9,

Do not be too relieved at the sheer number of schools available around KL as majority of them are in the outskirts of town and depending on where your spouse work, it might be a hell of commute.

Finding a school in for my son in KL was a nightmare and was our the biggest issue, but we managed in the end, you will get a clearer picture when you visit, I also did a million research and sought countless opinion of forum but was easier to put things in perspective when we visited in January for 1wk

Have you tried British school? AISM -Australian school

Maybe ask them about busrsaries and scholarship

Good luck
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Old Feb 22nd 2014, 8:00 am
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Default Re: Employer dropped bombshell ... Help needed!!

Epsom is outside of KL but will be running bus routes I think.
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