Living in KL, some final thoughts

One of the main reasons for my 2 month stay in KL was to see what it would be like to actually live and work here for an extended period of time. Now that this stay is coming to an end, I suppose I ought to do some sort of assessment, so here goes.

Working

I wanted to see whether I could carry out my normal day-to-day consultancy work in KL as effectively as I could in Brentford. There was also a local conference to attend and various visits to undertake to customers in the SE Asia region. Once I had sorted out a broadband internet connection, I found no problems at all in working from my new home. The company I do most work for is based in Dublin but has consultants and employees working from home all around the world, from Australia to Russia to Thailand. I was able to communicate just as well form KL as I would have back in the UK. The only thing missing was the monthly visit to the Dublin office, but that is not too critical at present. So 9/10 for ease of working.

Accommodation

I have already reported on the property market in KL, so I won’t go into much detail here. The key point is that I could live in a place that is 50% larger than my Brentford apartment, at 50% of the UK cost. Accommodation gets a 10/10.

Transport

As reported in an earlier blog, the car based culture in KL is probably my biggest grumble about living here. I would really resent having to buy a 4x4, but that seems the only option. 4/10 on that count.

Social

Probably the biggest surprise for me was just of easy it is to make new friends and meet people out here, and how extremely helpful everyone is in making a newcomer seem welcome. I was fortunate that more than half of my existing friends are already based in this region, so that formed a good starting point. But the hash club was a great place to meet new people, many of whom bent over backwards to help in various ways, from providing transport to showing me around KL property. Admittedly many of these were Western ex-pats, but many more were Chinese or Indian Malays. (Not many ethnic Malays, presumably because not so many are in middle class professions). The social scene is much more integrated than I had supposed. I guess the reason for the friendliness is that the (extended) ex-pat community is in a small minority here, so there is an element of sticking together, whereas in London no one feels the same incentive to club together and as a result it is much more impersonal. Of course, if I moved out here I would miss the friends back home, so it is not a one way bet. Overall, a 9/10 on this count.

Culture

Prior to coming out here, one of my main concerns about living in KL was that I would miss the cultural opportunities that exist in London. By that I don’t only mean things like the theatre, art galleries, etc, but also the day to day things like British TV and news papers. In the event I really did not miss these things that much. Admittedly I was only away for 2 months, and I am sure that over a longer period I would start to feel the absence of UK culture more keenly. However, the fact is that there were just too many other things to keep me occupied, in terms of social activities, work, and my various other interests. In the short term 7/10, but probably for a longer stay, 4/10.

Food

Malaysia, perhaps together with Singapore, is arguably home some of the best eating to be had anywhere in the world. Several styles of Chinese cuisine, Indian, Malay, you name it, Malaysia has it. And provided you steer clear of Western restaurants, it is incredibly cheap and good quality. You can eat like a king every day for less than £3. Definitely a 10/10.

Economics

Not only is the day-to day cost of living here very low compared to the UK, even taking into account the sick state of the UK£ (now 5.5 MYR as compared to about 7 MYR a year or so ago), but the Malay government have a special scheme called Malaysia My Second Home, designed to attract foreigners to invest in the country and set up home there. For someone in my position with a modest UK pension and earning a consultancy income outside Malaysia the incentives are almost irresistible, with all my income effectively becoming tax-free. Essentially, I could easily live out here on my pension alone, and devote 100% of my time to theoretical physics research (OK, that’s a bit excessive. Maybe 50% of the time on that and 50% diving). Other ex-pats tell me the decision is a no-braner. Anyway, 10/10 on the financials.

Conclusion

So overall, many plusses and not too many minuses. But I am not sure that I would be ready to commit myself 100% to living in Malaysia in the longer term just yet. Perhaps the way to go would be to split my time 50/50 between the UK and KL, at least as long as I was still working. The idea of not having to work anymore for a living is very tempting though!