Things to take and things to leave
 

Some questions about what to take and leave when we move to Malaysia. Any suggestions would be great.
1.I think all our UK electronic items will work in Malaysia as the system seems the same?
2.Should we bring our own furniture (oak dinning table and large 3 seater sofas?) or should we purchase new when we get there? I am thinking that we will limit ourselves to the type of house/apartment if we have to accommodate our current furniture size? Or are unfurnished large apartments easy to get? (Remember UK houses are tiny generally and therefore getting the right size furniture is a must.)
3.Are childrens toys available widely or should we stock up on Lego/ playmobil etc?! Is there enough choice available?

Regards

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

Are you selling up in UK or just moving to Malaysia with the intention of return visits to UK???

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

We are moving to Malaysia for 2/3 years. We are not selling our house in UK. We have option to either take all our stuff or sell/store it.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

I would bring it. You can get very large apartments here; makes the places in the UK look tiny (which isn't hard!)

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

So are you letting your UK property?

Personally I'd leave it there and buy new here.
OK you'll have stuff which generally will not be worth anything when you try to sell it here so either take that back or just sell it 10cents on the dollar.

It's a personal choice though.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

Yes we are letting our property in UK. But we will not leave our stuff in the house because I was told that it will not add to the rent nor will it make it any easier to find renters.
I dont want to end up with two sets of sofas and table/chairs when we return to UK. I am also guessing it will not be cheap to buy good quality furniture in malaysia.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

Also moving furniture is being paid by company so wont cost anything.
Just to confirm my TV and other electronics will work just fine in malaysia ?

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

Hi there, we shipped very little and sold most of our big furniture items and TV's as we rented our house out in the UK unfurnished.

You can buy electrical goods and furniture over here quite cheaply, so that's what we've done, oh and BTW we are here for 3 years to start with.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

I dunno what the figures are but I'd guess more properties come furnished or partially furnished in Malaysia, they certainly do in Singapore.
You might not like the furniture but you can ask for it to be changed and they might do it for nothing or they might add on a bit to the rent.

You might have to wait between 6 and 8 weeks for your furniture to arrive from UK.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

As exReg says, seems crazy moving furniture for 2-3 years then back again, but on t'other hand if it's being paid for, and you're happy with a few dings n dents on both journeys then why not.

I don't find furniture good quality here. Workmanship in Malaysia is pretty iffy. Much better furniture in Thailand not cheap though

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

And of course there is the climate to consider.
Hot and humid equatorial instead of coolish low humidity temperate.
Not all furniture can make that change.
Certainly some of the stuff I've taken back to UK couldn't. Other stuff has managed quite a few changes in climate without any problems.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

We moved into a large unfurnished apartment. Many of the ones I looked at were unfurnished - certainly all the brand new ones - or had minimal furniture.
We're used to living in fully furnished places in the UK - most seemed to be - so didn't have any to bring anyway, but if we did, and shipping was free, I would have brought it, why not? Better than paying for storage. Also I think furniture here is relatively expensive and, like BB says, not amazing quality. Seems to be either really high end designer or really budget and yuk. If anyone knows of places that do otherwise, I'd love to hear. I'm wearing a path between my place and Ikea currently... :)
Electrical plugs the same as UK.
And toys galore.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

Thanks Kate. Good to hear about the Toys. We are bringing most of our furniture and getting rid of some.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

TV in Malaysia is still analogue and PAL BG. UK analogue was PAL I so is not compatible and there will be no sound. Having said that some modern UK TVs can be switched to PAL BG, check the TVs menus. Also check it will tune VHF channels 2 to 12, many UK TVs only tune 21 to 69.

Re: Things to take and things to leave
 

We brought all our toys and I'm glad we did. The branded toys are far more expensive here than in the UK.