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Flying into Penang from the north-east, we look down on the scattering of rugged islands that stud the jade-green sea. My wife says that the scene reminds her of the opening page of a fairy tale. The geological freaks below us - technically limestone karsts - are like giant teeth stuck in a bowl of green jelly. The extraordinary scenery, perhaps the most beautiful in Malaysia, was chosen as a location for the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun for good reason: it lends itself to flights of fancy. As the plane makes its final approach, we see white sand beaches and brilliant blue sea by the landing strip. They whet our appetite for hot sunshine, fresh breezes and the taste of coconut juice. We've been away too long. It's about 30 miles from the airport in the north to our house on a lush, 75-acre compound called Fisherman Way with its coconut palms and exotic plants and flowers. The 30 cottages in Fisherman Way are owned or rented mostly by expats of various nationalities, and several (including ourselves) are former residents of Hong Kong. A retired teacher from the UK owns the place next door. A few people work – there’s a diving instructor and a couple of hotel executives – but we’re mostly retirees. We are fortunate to rent one of the few beachfront properties in the compound. The rent we pay is slightly less than we get for our flat in Brighton. Eventually we might sell the flat and buy here. The stunning location of the three-bed bungalow, offers views across the sea towards distant islands. We have a million-dollar view for a thousand bucks a month. We spend more time than we should sitting on our terrace marveling at the endlessly changing colours and textures of the sea and sky and watching the passing boats - sailboats, luxury yachts and fishing boats. Secluded but conveniently located, Fisherman Way is half a mile from local markets (good for a huge variety of tropical fruit and vegetables, as well as delicious and inexpensive takeaway dinners). There’s a 7-Eleven, two cash machines, a pharmacy, a bakery, laundries, hairdressing salons, a couple of internet cafes, a photo-processing shop, a post office and a police station. There are also a growing number of good restaurants nearby and several lively bars popular with expats. My local, the Islander, boasts tables for pool and ping-pong. There’s Victoria Bitter from Australia. My drinking mates include yachties, a handful of hacks, hotel employees and retired airline pilots. Another social meeting place is a beach just 10 minutes away where I go for a swim a couple of times a week and to watch the sunset. I drive down a narrow road thick with lush green vegetation and palm trees on both sides. Here there is a wide range of restaurants, shops and traditional houses. Apart from the absence of Marmite and good bookshops, there are, of course, some real drawbacks to this tropical lifestyle. For anyone who can't survive without horseracing, hunting, live music, art films and exhibitions, draught English beer, crisp winter weather and log fires, this is not the place to be. Malaysia’s low cost of living allows retirees to enjoy what the country offers on pensions that go much further than in the UK, an advantage that permits – at around £100 a month – the employment of either a full time or part time maid, giving these playboy pensioners far more time to enjoy the multiple benefits of living in this tropical paradise. In today’s Malaysia, most towns have
large shopping malls stocked with produce from all over the world so expatriate
retirees are not denied a plentiful supply of those favourite items which,
in earlier decades, often led to suitcases being filled with one or two
year’s supply of ‘vital’ necessities such as Marmite and Paxo Stuffing.
Thousands of expatriates live and work in Malaysia. Several thousand more have settled in this tropical paradise under the ‘Malaysia: My Second Home’ scheme (MM2H). Most are completely retired while a few have received special dispensation to work part-time in specialised IT fields. There are also a few “Social Visit Pass” holders under the MM2H who maintain some form of part-time employment overseas – most commonly company directorships of non-Malaysian companies, owners of offshore companies and writers. Since the implementation of the MM2H scheme there has been a noticeable increase in club membership. Most clubs here have affiliations with other clubs around the world and so club members in the UK who are thinking of retiring here should check their affiliations. In Penang there are several groupings of expatriates based on where they previously lived or worked. I belong to two lunch groups made up of ex-Hong Kong expats. An advantage of this sort of grouping is that it not only acts as a broad-based social group but also allows for the transfer of relevant information and forms a safety net of friends who can often help and give advice in times of trouble as well as welcoming and mentoring new arrivals. Most retirees here plan to stay indefinitely, just returning to their country of origin on ‘home leave’ once in a while to see friends and family. Many people wonder how retirees can
fill their day, especially if the normal work of running a home has been
reduced by having domestic help. The answer is that in Malaysia it feels
as though there are never enough hours in the day for all the activities
available. Due to the constant warm weather sport forms an important part
of the social scene here for the entire year. Most clubs have sporting
facilities and squash, (for the younger retirees) and racquetball, badminton
and tennis (for the not so young) are played in many of the clubs with
exceptionally sociable interclub matches arranged for all levels of player.
Sailing and golf are also popular and both KL and Penang are endowed with
many reasonably priced golf courses which can be used mid-week by non-members.
Scuba diving is excellent on both the east coast and on the islands off
East Malaysia, home of several of the world’s top dive sites.
At the Singapore border drivers buy a smart card for £2 and a small daily charge for driving a Malaysian registered car in Singapore is deducted from the card when you leave. For more adventurous drivers there is a 4 x 4 off road club that arranges expeditions throughout the region as well as jungle expeditions within Malaysia. There is also a thriving vintage car club which arranges rallies in both Malaysia and Singapore. For the less energetic there are a variety of cooler options and organisations such as the International Woman’s Association which has groups for archery, bridge and – on through the alphabet – to yoga. Even the simple daily routines here take on an added charm, from breakfasting on fresh tropical fruits on a balcony overlooking the sea, to dawn walks up Penang Hill or through the Botanical Gardens. Even a rich aromatic local coffee in front of the computer while checking your emails and reading the world news has an especial charm. After breakfast, a round of golf followed by lunch at the club with friends, or a sail, then – after an afternoon nap – it’s down to the Eastern and Oriental (E&O) Hotel for drinks on the seafront terrace, overlooking the Channel between Penang and mainland Malaysia, followed by an international buffet dinner in Sarkies. The hotel – named after the brothers who originally built it in 1885 – retains much of its old world charm, having been renovated to the high standards for which it was justly famous when previously patronised by W. Somerset Maugham on his Malaysian travels. To give you an idea of the cost of living here, the golf, with lunch, then drinks and dinner will set you back less than £25 pounds per person. Cost of living
There is no VAT, but there is a Government Sales Tax (GST) of five per cent on hotel and restaurant bills and on professional bills such as lawyers’ bills. One could, for example, become a Malaysian taxpayer if income is obtained from rental earnings in Malaysia or from royalties on published works in Malaysia. However, there are many allowances which greatly reduce such tax liability. Possessions imported for personal use when retiring to Malaysia are exempt from tax. (These items should not include daggers, drugs, firearms or alcohol.) If recorded videos, VCDs or DVDs are imported they will be checked for content and there is a checking charge of RM30 (£4.30) per item. Once the retiree has been out of the UK for the prescribed period, then offshore investments become free of UK tax and are not taxed by the Malaysian tax authority. Several retirees have calculated that their living expenses within Malaysia are far less then their tax savings making it, in effect, cost free to live here. Property prices are low: a three-bedroomed apartment in a condominium in Penang is available from £36,000. Utility charges are low and with temperatures never dropping below 22oC at night, there is no need for central heating. Air-conditioning is normally considered essential, at least for the bedrooms. Even if air-conditioning is used regularly, the total electricity bill should not exceed £600 per annum and many families only use half that amount. There is no piped natural gas, but a large cylinder of LP gas is less than £2.20 including delivery, usually within four hours but often within 30 minutes. Telephone land lines cost £3.90 per month and local calls are the equivalent of four pence a minute. The cheapest international calls are via call cards and a £4.30 card enables just under four hours of call time to the UK. Water and sewage combined charges average less than £3 a month. Postal charges are also well below those in the UK as a first class stamp costs less than five pence and an airmail post card to anywhere in the world costs seven pence. Local domestic help is readily available
and while it is not necessary to have a maid if living in a condominium,
it certainly makes life more pleasant. Maids are available for £1.50
an hour and, for many couples, hiring a maid for just a few hours a day
to do the washing, ironing and cleaning is sufficient.
Wine is available from £3 per bottle upwards – a long way upwards, alas – as the percentage duty increases with the value of the wine. Beer in the supermarkets fluctuates according to the current special offer and, when bought by the case, varies between 45-75 pence per small can. Incoming international passengers are allowed to bring in a litre of duty free spirits and the island of Langkawi, just a ferry ride away, is totally duty free. Eating out is one of the great joys of Malaysia, a social activity that takes place 24 hours a day, seven days a week and seems to involve the entire population. Costs range from less than a £1 per person for a casual – but delicious – snack at one of the hawker stalls, to £5 for a delightful dinner in a small restaurant or club. A sumptuous buffet – wine and beer included – in a premier hotel such as the Eastern and Oriental on the harbour front in Penang, will set you back less than £10 per person. Food of every variety and flavour is available in Penang, a true melting pot of culinary styles. Shopping for food and general household
products is cheap although the range of products is probably less than
you’re used to. The local markets are good value, especially for vegetables
which are offered for sale only hours after being picked. There is an abundant
choice of fresh fruit, both local and imported and in the wet markets the
fish and poultry are killed and prepared to order. The price of most basic
ingredients is controlled by the government, so inflation remains low.
Property purchase - There are several points to consider when purchasing a property in Malaysia. It is generally accepted that immigrants are happiest if they settle in an area that offers the safety net of an expatriate community and this narrows down the choice considerably. There are two large expatriate communities in Malaysia, one in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, referred to colloquially as KL, and the other is in Penang. While the expatriate community in KL is considerably larger than the community in Penang, most expats in KL are on a work permit, while the majority of those in Penang are retirees under the ‘Malaysian My Second Home’ scheme. It seems logical, for a retiree who is not working, to retire to a non-capital city, where the prices are less, the traffic congestion lower, and the pace of life more in tune with retirement. Even within Penang there are areas which are more suitable than others for an expatriate to live. Probably the most popular location to either buy or rent is the north coastal belt between the beach at Batu Ferringhi and the Eastern and Oriental hotel in George Town. However, the most common advice to retirees, given by those who have lived here for several years, is not to buy at first, but to rent, and then only to buy when they are absolutely happy about the chosen area. An otherwise idyllic location can quickly lose its charm when the sound of nearby celebrations wakes the retiree before 6 a.m. every morning. .
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