Moving to Kuala Lumpur

Old Oct 16th 2012, 1:27 pm
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Default Moving to Kuala Lumpur

Hi all, i have just received a job in Kuala Lumpur as a teacher and i am super excited!! but i have some fears and hope somebody can help put them to rest, so here we go:

My wife is also very excited but i feel she will get bored when the novelty wears off! she is a fashion designer and an administrator, is there a place for expat wives to get jobs or something??

I have been looking to get a condo in Bangsar (budget of around 3000rm) but which has the a good rating??

I have heard some horror stories of tourist being mugged in broad daylight and police harrasing expats for bribes, what can we do if this ever happens??

Any information will be greatly appreciated
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Old Oct 17th 2012, 8:20 am
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Default Re: Moving to Kuala Lumpur

Hi Mohamed I'm not in KL so cannot help you too much with your questions. Our KL experts will no doubt be around soon to advise you.

Re crimewise, I would say just take precautions as you would ANY large city. I don't think that KL is any more dangerous than say London. Mind you, London can be pretty scarey these days eh.

I've not heard anything of police harrassing expats. That sounds a bit strange.

Also have a browse through some of the existing threads on this sub-forum. I know there's quite a few about Bangsar. Maybe do a search in the search box (top right hand corner)?

All the best with your planning. I'm sure you'll both have a great time
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Old Oct 17th 2012, 8:31 am
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Default Re: Moving to Kuala Lumpur

Hi and congratulations on the job offer!

Re your queries, don't worry, there's lots of info already on this site you can refer to - have a look at the titles of other threads or do a search.

I came over as an "ex pat wife", said yes to pretty much every opportunity (and lots come along in KL if you get out and about) and now although I'm not following my old UK career path, I am working and keeping very busy besides that. There's no reason your wife should struggle. Do note though that everyday type jobs aren't the ones given to foreigners, as locals are perfectly capable of doing such roles and they often require Chinese/Bahasa language skills, so I doubt she'd get an administration job. A good time for further studies, developing profitable work from her design work maybe, or looking at something new... Opportunities to get involved in charity work abound, too.

Bangsar is a safe bet for accommodation but you do pay a premium; there are lots of other great areas that would be worth consideration. Depends where you work etc but maybe also consider Sri Hartamas and Seputeh. Both close to Bangsar, still decently positioned but priced more competitively. I've heard lots of good things about Sri Wangsaria condo in Bangsar - you might get lucky with a competitive rental rate there...? A bit of an eyesore but it has great facilities and it's in a good location. Sadly I have found a lot of things out here are painfully comparable to London prices - rent is a big chunk of income and foreign activities like going out for a coffee & muffin, or a dinner with alcohol can very easily cost the same as it would in London. If you can save on rent, do! Check out the other threads here and iproperty.com.my

Re tourists being mugged in broad daylight and police hassling ex pats for bribes... Everyone has a horror story about something, somewhere. I've been here 7 months and have none so far. A new friend of mine has been here a week and her husband's phone got snatched out of his hand on Day 2. When I lived in London the horror stories were all about people getting mugged in Barcelona, and paying bribes to traffic cops in Greece, and any London resident would probably be just a bit more mindful of their belongings in the West End than they would be in Crouch End - but then that's not necessarily justified. My feeling is that it's the same all over the world and you can minimise your chances of bad things happening by being the same street savvy person you would be in London or any other city. But sometimes you hit some bad luck, and it's gutting. When it comes to the police here, I've thankfully not had to interact with them, but I have heard one bribe story from a friend that related to submission of a traffic accident report (he found the situation a frustrating waste of time when it happened but was able to laugh about it afterwards), and one other from a friend who got pulled over for speeding and was encouraged to pay the traffic cop £10 cash instead of being required to attend a police station and go through the bore of producing documents (she coughed up - some would, some wouldn't). But that's all. I wouldn't sweat it - especially not before you get here and before you've done anything a bored policeman could question!

Good luck with the prep!
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Old Oct 18th 2012, 9:22 am
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Default Re: Moving to Kuala Lumpur

Hi Mohammad

We've just taken the big step too! I'm planning on setting up a small side business for my wife to keep her occupied hopefully. Getting so many ideas at the moment as so many opportunities...

Regards
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Old Oct 19th 2012, 8:14 am
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Smile Re: Moving to Kuala Lumpur

Hi Abdul,

i have been researching the business aspect, and apparently you have to have a Malaysian business partner (2 is recommended) and your wife has to get the correct visa. This seems very daunting to me, but would be good for the wife to earn a little of cash.

Do you know what area you are going to be staying??
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Old Oct 25th 2012, 8:51 am
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Default Re: Moving to Kuala Lumpur

I'm staying in USJ, Subang Jaya.

I'm going through process of setting up company with another foreigner at the moment. You don't have to have a Malaysian partner, (or any partner at all) but the capital for a ltd company has to be of a higher value, above RM350,000. With a Malaysian partner, it's RM250,000.

Personally, I've arrived on a social visa with my family (3 months validity by default). Within this period I should have the company registration sorted. After which I can change my visa type to annual. After which, my family will become dependants and also change their visa types!

Another interesting thing I found out: If one of your kids is at primary/secondary age and needs schooling, international schools here can help get a study visa for the student and one guardian.

My wife's starting something small from home just to get an idea of response etc. If it starts to impress me, I can seriously invest and sort out all the company registration headache for her later on!

Regards
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