Steeplejack

Hi there all...am a new poster who has just been offered a first expat assignment in KL. Totally unexpected since we had been told until a few weeks ago we would be going to Europe. So got some thinking to do since have a young family (1&3 year olds). There are some really good threads I have read as I try and weigh up the pro's and con's. To be honest I think I can see all the potential benefits so looking for a warts and all view about the downsides of KL living...and I know everyone is different so one person's plus is another one's minus etc etc but just looking to get peoples thoughts.

An ex-colleague told me that the con's of living in KL were:
- Traffic (especially if you choose to live in the suburbs)
- Need to avoid living close to a Mosque (prayers are every 4 hours)
- Heat and humidity
- General safety (need to carefully choose where you live - most expat communities are fine)
- Public toilets (not sure why he mentioned this one?)

To be honest for a couple of pastey English parents and even paler / blonder kids I think it is the heat and humidity which is the hardest sell for my other half. In addition to the fact she is used to just opening the front door and pushing the buggy to shops/ cafes/ parks etc which I'm not sure she can do in KL. From what I have seen on other threads the education / nursery availability seems pretty high quality.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

bakedbean

Hi steeplejack and welcome to the forum. Do please read through some of the other threads on here, and maybe tag onto some of them too. There are so so many folks in same position as you and asking all the same questions, so do have a good read through.

Heat and humidity, yes that will be a shock but you will get used to it to a certain extent. Most places have aircon anyway and we don't find it so expensive to use.

I doubt you will avoid mosques in KL, but I'll let some KL residents answer that one. In Penang, there are not so many but, even so, we bought a new condo unit, and thought we had avoided all the mosques, but No, there's one we didn't know about a little way off. The first call is around 6am. I guess we must have got used to it, as we sleep through it each morning now. The other ones, we don't notice so much either. The late afternoon one we always joke that it is Call for a Cuppa (Apologies to any Muslim posters on here )

abdulawwal

Lol!

Actually, as Muslims we do revolve around prayer times a little bit: 6am coincides with wake up call, Noon prayer time is lunch, afternoon is for tea, sunset is hometime and dinner, and night prayer for winding down and getting ready for bed!

RedDragon2008

I dont mind the prayers myself, just reminds me of attributes needed by all - that is dedication and committment.

Tahiti_Bound

Hi there

We have spent about three and a half years living in the center of KL. and for the most part we've had a good time. As you mention, there are many pros to coming to this part of the world - but you asked for cons so here's our (very subjective) list:

Heat and humidity - you do get used to it up to a point, but we still find the weather very 'sapping' (and I wish we were fitter to be able to better handle it)

Male oriented - I don't notice this, but my wife feels that she sometimes has difficulty being taken seriously in shops, restaurants etc.

Expensive - there is definitely an 'expat' price versus a local price for some things. But many things (eg iPads etc) are still cheaper than the UK

Taxis - they are plentiful (and are essential for getting about), but some are old and don't seem to be well maintained. And the drivers sometimes will not use the meter; instead they demand X ringgits for a trip that might normally cost X/2.

Personal space - don't expect people to wait for you to get out of the lift/train/door before they try and get in (this one drives me nuts!) - and ladies should get used to men being served first, and to not having the door held open for them

Cleaning and maintenance - KL has some great buildings, and some lovely new apartments. But maintenance is not always the best, so a two or three year old building can start to look quite shabby. And outside of KLCC and Bangsar, trash and general untidiness can mar some of the more popular locations

Driving standards - we have found the Malaysian folk we have met to be generally lovely, generous and friendly folk. However that all goes away when they get behind a wheel! But you get used to it (driving in KL that is) - my wife describes driving in KL as like 'being in a video game!'

Distance from home - being 13 hours away from the UK is always going to feel like a long way

Taxes - most of your expat package will be subject to tax in Malaysia. This is not a con per se, but I thought I'd mention it since you'll want to make sure your tax situation is looked after by your company (and no, being paid via Algiers does not a credible tax approach make!)

Getting away from the heat - if you want to go somewhere cooler, it seems you have to go down to Australia during their spring or Autumn. Everywhere else seems (to us anyway) to be just as sweaty as Malaysia!

But there is nothing better than sitting on our balcony looking at the city view while enjoying a cool glass of white wine. Or seeing the smiling faces of our folk in the office, or the view of the sea from a posh Thai resort. We'll definitely miss it when we leave.

All the best

Tahiti

ajw

I don't mind them either. I just wish our closest mosque would turn the volume down from its current air-raid siren levels.

bakedbean

Good on ya Abdul. What i do love here is that the Malay community have a great sense of humour