Starting a new life in Kuala Lumpur
#61

Good informed posting Adventure. I too have friends in KL who have witnessed firsthand some of these crimes. Let's hope the PM and Home Minister can get on top of it.
You mentioned discrimation in Malaysia but are you aware that the Penang State Government is now Chinese Malaysian controlled (since 2008), majority of Chinese on Penang island, and has abolished this daft ruling of favouring ethnic Malays before all others?
You mentioned discrimation in Malaysia but are you aware that the Penang State Government is now Chinese Malaysian controlled (since 2008), majority of Chinese on Penang island, and has abolished this daft ruling of favouring ethnic Malays before all others?

#62
Forum Regular


Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 51


Oh dear in that case Malaysia sounds like hell to me
I am not a beach guy - I get really panicy when I am away from the city buzz
Even London wasn't buzzy enough for me
So it seems there's not many places in the world which may be suitable for those of us who would prefer to stay single and just take long long walks to relax and enjoy the surroundings 
Thank you to others for your valuable input
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Thank you to others for your valuable input

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M

#63
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 6


First thing, this is my very first post, so please be gentle.
I am a 30 year old male and my partner is a 29 year old German girl. We are engaged to be married and will probably do so in Bali next year. My fiance is half Malaysian and we have a dream to live and run a guesthouse in Kuala Lumpur.
My girlfriend does not have a Malaysian passport as she was born in Germany. Now, I need as much information as possible about the possibility of starting our own business in KL.
If anybody could give me any information about getting VISA´s (please not the MM2H programme as that looks way too expensive).....can we actually get permits to live in Malaysia if we are not going to be working for a company. Effectively we will own our own company so we will be self employed.
I know that moving country is a big step, but we want to start a business in KL and begin a family out there so we would like to know the restrictions that the government will apply and basically whether or not we can do it.
My (soon to be) mother-in-law is from Kuching (she lives in Germany also), does this help us with getting VISA´s etc??!
Please excuse my ignorance, but the beginning of hopefully a new life in Malaysia.
Any information would be great as I cant find anything about owning your own company in KL online, it is all assuming you will work for a company out there.
Thanks in advance.
I am a 30 year old male and my partner is a 29 year old German girl. We are engaged to be married and will probably do so in Bali next year. My fiance is half Malaysian and we have a dream to live and run a guesthouse in Kuala Lumpur.
My girlfriend does not have a Malaysian passport as she was born in Germany. Now, I need as much information as possible about the possibility of starting our own business in KL.
If anybody could give me any information about getting VISA´s (please not the MM2H programme as that looks way too expensive).....can we actually get permits to live in Malaysia if we are not going to be working for a company. Effectively we will own our own company so we will be self employed.
I know that moving country is a big step, but we want to start a business in KL and begin a family out there so we would like to know the restrictions that the government will apply and basically whether or not we can do it.
My (soon to be) mother-in-law is from Kuching (she lives in Germany also), does this help us with getting VISA´s etc??!
Please excuse my ignorance, but the beginning of hopefully a new life in Malaysia.
Any information would be great as I cant find anything about owning your own company in KL online, it is all assuming you will work for a company out there.
Thanks in advance.
Thailand is 'The Land of Smiles' to those who have money in their pockets, and the MM2H Scheme is similar. To be welcome, you must be able to support yourselves! Foreigners own bars and guesthouses here in Thailand, but cannot get work permits - so their wifes run them. (Even talking to customers is considered 'working'!) The profit they make is minimal - forget trips back to Europe!
To get a proper work permit to start a business, you must bring in substantial capital and must then employ 5 Thais for every foreigner. In the guest house business, you will therefore be competing with family-run places with almost free labour! You will also need lots of permits, which are as much of a hassle in Malaysia as Thailand.

#64
Forum Regular




Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 288












I quite like KL and have walked for miles and miles in the heat, it definitely has the right kind of buzz. I did not feal threatened in any way, but that may just be ignorance on my part as have only done about a month in several separate visits. Being British I was pleasantly surprised at the reaction of the locals - a lot of them were supporting England in the World Cup, BTW. Be interesting to know what percentage of the muggings involve westerners as victims, as I have often found in other SEA countries that the potential hassle from the police keeps the criminals in check where tourists are concerned (Thailand now a notable exception).
No way Penang has the same kind of city buzz as KL and I did not find the locals all that pleasant, seemed to be quite a lot of seething resentment under the surface. I probably would not go out of my way to visit again, though KL is one possible location for future condo purchse. But I like big cities, anyway.
No way Penang has the same kind of city buzz as KL and I did not find the locals all that pleasant, seemed to be quite a lot of seething resentment under the surface. I probably would not go out of my way to visit again, though KL is one possible location for future condo purchse. But I like big cities, anyway.

#65
Just Joined
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 6


I quite like KL and have walked for miles and miles in the heat, it definitely has the right kind of buzz. I did not feal threatened in any way, but that may just be ignorance on my part as have only done about a month in several separate visits. Being British I was pleasantly surprised at the reaction of the locals - a lot of them were supporting England in the World Cup, BTW. Be interesting to know what percentage of the muggings involve westerners as victims, as I have often found in other SEA countries that the potential hassle from the police keeps the criminals in check where tourists are concerned (Thailand now a notable exception).
No way Penang has the same kind of city buzz as KL and I did not find the locals all that pleasant, seemed to be quite a lot of seething resentment under the surface. I probably would not go out of my way to visit again, though KL is one possible location for future condo purchse. But I like big cities, anyway.
No way Penang has the same kind of city buzz as KL and I did not find the locals all that pleasant, seemed to be quite a lot of seething resentment under the surface. I probably would not go out of my way to visit again, though KL is one possible location for future condo purchse. But I like big cities, anyway.
I too felt safe in KL, but read in my Lonely Planet of no-go areas. In Penang, my hotel receptionist advised me to stay in at night. But like any place in the world, it depends where you are.
