Malaysia is almost always in the top 10 lists of best international places for expat living and retirement, and for good reason. But just not for the reasons they list. Those “10 Best” write-ups are hilarious fantasy fictions written by people who are either completely high, closely related to Pinocchio, or have never set foot in Malaysia. A recent one gushed that Malaysia’s cities are “clean and modern” (Hahahaha! Ow, I just fell into an open storm drain) with “unrivaled public transportation” (um, busses?) with “stunning beaches” (bejeweled with trash) and “untouched rainforests” (ignore the bulldozers).
That said, thousands lead fulfilling expat lives in Malaysia and enjoy a happy retirement here, but for reasons that are actually based in reality. So how about we talk about what it’s REALLY like to live here – both the good and the bad – so you’ll be able to determine if moving to Malaysia is right for you?
After interviewing a number of expats living in Malaysia and combining it with my own experiences, these are the top pros and cons of living and retiring in Malaysia, along with important swing factors to consider: (Note – this table is best viewed on tablets or desktop computers – the formatting looks weird on phones)
| Pros | Cons | Swing Factors |
| Low cost of living and great value
Easy to obtain 10-year visa Safety Affordable luxury housing Excellent home base for travel English spoken widely Friendly, welcoming locals Can purchase freehold property Robust expat community and no creepy “sexpats” |
Seasonal haze/poor air quality
Litter Rampant development High cost for certain imports (such as alcohol, cars, electronics) Very far from Europe and US Limited entertainment and activity options
|
Heat and humidity
Local food It’s a developing country
|
Pros
There are many benefits of expat living and retiring in Malaysia. The top reason for most of us who live here is that life is easy, affordable and relatively low-stress. In fact, the cost of living is so low that many Westerners are able to retire early here – sometimes a decade sooner than anticipated. It’s a friendly, comfortable, relaxed, welcoming place to live with a low crime rate. Plus, you get incredible value for your money, from low rental rates for luxury housing, to movie tickets that cost about a quarter of the price in Western countries, and insanely cheap restaurant food that allows many to eat out every night. Plus, for those with kids, there’s a wide variety of excellent international schools. And the healthcare system is quite good and incredibly affordable.
It’s easy to make friends with both expats and locals here, and there’s always a festival going on to celebrate together
Malaysia is one of only three Asian countries where you can purchase freehold property, making it attractive for international investors. And Malaysia makes it fairly simple to get a 10-year visa through their Malaysia My Second Home program (also known as MM2H), making it one of the easiest places to retire in Asia. (You can learn all about the MM2H process here – this is the agent that most of our friends use).
There are plenty of exotic travel adventures nearby within short, direct flights from Penang and KL airports, fascinating festivals to celebrate in Malaysia, and many fun things to see, taste and do:
The roads are generally in very good shape here, and there have been quite a few infrastructure improvements – like a beautiful new bridge connecting Penang island to the mainland, and in Kuala Lumpur there’s a new light rail transit system. The sidewalks leave a lot to be desired though – more on that below.
And as an added bonus, because of stricter laws, there aren’t any disgusting sex tourists or “sexpats” here in Malaysia like there are in Thailand. It’s just gross seeing creepy old men in gold chains trolling the streets of Bangkok, groping tiny 17 year-old Thai prostitutes. Ew, just ewwww.
Cons
One of the most frequent complaints from those living here is that Malaysia can be a bit gritty. From litter on the beaches and beside roads, trash in the ocean and floating down rivers, and bathrooms that would horrify even Freddy Krueger, it takes some time to adjust. (There are some clean, beautiful places in Malaysia at locations that are sparsely populated, but it can be hard to find trash-free areas around populated locales).
Trash left by beachgoers and that washes ashore can be a downer. Luckily the most popular beaches usually employ beach cleaners to gather the rubbish.
I’ve found that it helps to focus on the positives instead of fixating on the litter. Like, for example: the beaches look fantastic from the 15th floor of a waterfront condo. 🙂
Extensive development is also an issue for some people, especially those who live next to noisy construction sites or who love nature and are sad to see jungles replaced by condos and palm oil plantations. It’s also quite a long flight to the US and Europe that can take up to 35 hours door-to-door with transfers and layovers, which is tough for people who need to travel back there frequently.
For those with uncommon heath conditions, it can be challenging to find medical specialists. And whenever Indonesia is setting their rainforests ablaze (usually between August-October), the haze that drifts into Malaysia can make the air quality quite dangerous for people with respiratory issues. 2017 and 2016 didn’t have much haze (thankfully), but in 2015 and 2019, the sky was ashy-gray, full of dangerous particulate matter and difficult to breathe for two straight months.
A special note for those who are mobility-challenged – some parts of the country are rough for people in wheelchairs, who use walkers or are unsteady on their feet. For example, this is a sidewalk near where we live:
(Gotta love the chair in the open/broken sewer grate. That’s the local way of indicating the hazard, which is hilarious. It may not be an orange cone, but it’s effective!)
Unless you’ve got an off-road wheelchair with a jetpack to fly over hazards like this, navigating the sidewalks here could be a challenge.
How to find out if Malaysia is for you
If you’re really serious about moving here, definitely plan a trip to explore, meet with other expats and see if it’s for you. If you come to Penang, here’s a fun way to see and experience its highlights in 3 days.
In the meantime, just picture yourself here, enjoying this incredible view and your early retirement 🙂
Oh MY Expat Life 
Great Article, Thank You!
Can you please advise the approximate cost of a 3 bedroom house or apartment? A luxury house or apartment
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Hi Sharon! The cost of an apartment or home is dependent on a number of factors, from location to size to amenities. I wrote a whole story about this with a range of homes featured to give you a good idea about the cost of living. You can find it in the same section of the site as this story. Just go to this link and scroll down until you find the cost of living story. https://ohmyexpatlife.com/penang-life/ 🙂
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Thanks so much
We’ve really enjoyed reading your blog
Thank you
We are thinking of coming over for a holiday & I’d love to catch up if we do
Cheers
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Dear Cimeron, how are you doing . This is YewKeng again, very enjoy to read your blog, so interesting and you are so knowledgeable. ：）
I believe it’s time soon for me to prepare a final move to Penang. Can you please kindly share your moving experience? Such as how to look for a reliable international shipping (moving) company? How do they charge? Base on the weight of the container or size of the container? Approximately how much? Self pack self loading? Or do they offer full service? How many months before the move I have to start to look for a moving company?..any paperwork? …etc….etc……..any important questions I have missed to ask?
any trustable international cargo service company you can referred?
Please advise!
Deeply appreciate any information you provided,
Thanks so very much in advance and have a beautiful day,
Sincerely,
YewKeng
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Hi YewKeng! Very exciting that you’re ready to plan your final move to Penang. 🙂 I wish I could answer your questions about movers and costs, but all that was taken care of for us by my husband’s company – we never saw the final bill. All I can tell you is the name of the company that did all the packing and moving for us: Santa Fe Relocation. They were great and everything arrived without any breakages. I hope that helps! Good luck with your move, and if you wouldn’t mind letting me know about your moving experience and who you hire, we can write a story together about it so other people moving here can learn from your experiences.
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Hi Cimeron,
I’m a Chinese Indonesian living in the US. I was wondering is discrimination on the rise in Malaysia now? Also on average how are the Chinese being treated there?
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Hi Sue,
In Penang, I believe the majority of residents are Malaysian-Chinese. I’ve never seen any Chinese discrimination here, and none of my Chinese friends have mentioned it. There seems to be quite a lot of harmony here among races and religions. I can’t speak to other locations though since I don’t spend much time in the rest of Malaysia. I hope that helps!
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Hi. Can you tell me what city the balcony shots are from? Thanks
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Hi James. It’s in Tanjung Bungah. Check out my neighborhood guide story to see more shots of the area (and lots of other areas around the island).
Cimeron
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Hi Cimeron,
Thank you for writing such informative blogs.
I had been to Penang many times, but each time stayed in hotels.
Is there any short term rentals available around Strait Quay or Gurney area, eg say for two or three months? If so are they within the range you have mentioned in one of your articles. Can you suggest any agent for that? I like to spend such time before making final move. Also is transferring funds from USA easy in Penang? Thanks a bunch!
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Hi there! Yes, there are a some short-term serviced apartments around the Straits Quay and Gurney area that are quite nice. My friend Sharon gets special deals for them and I’m sure she can help you out and show you a bunch of options. You can contact her directly at: giraudcan@gmail.com
As for transferring funds from the US, the easiest method is to set up an account with HSBC in the US, which also has a branch here in Penang. That way you can transfer your funds very easily. (There’s also Citibank, which we opted for and I regret it. Our US rep either didn’t understand their international transfer abilities or he lied to us outright, because transferring funds was a pain in the neck and carried unreasonably high fees.)
I hope that helps!
Cimeron
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I’m looking at the “My Second Home” program and living in Penang area. Spent quite some time there in the 2,000’s on business and leisure. However only used hotels, with the exception of the Northam Suites, where I spent 6 weeks on an a company project.
Have not been since 2012. Any major changes to be aware of?
Plan to retire in June 2021 but get it set up in 2020. Having read the literature and program details, I know while my income will not be large it well exceeds the limits.
Q1) Are there any pitfalls “watch-outs” I need to keep in mind? I’m a UK citizen but US permanent resident ta this time
I do have three local friends who are form Penang and another (from China) on the M2H program. However his financial situation is much better then mine) They all have advice for me on where to live.
Q2) Is a private health plan recommended/ I read something about that but wasn’t clear.
Q3) am I able to own a car and get a local license, didn’t see anything about that.
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Hi Gordon,
Yes, you will need health insurance for the MM2H program. Your MM2H broker will be able to tell you about the various health insurance options and prices. And yes, you can purchase or rent a car, and you can get a local license. Here’s a link that may help you: http://www.mm2h.gov.my/pdf/mm2h11.pdf Hope this helps you!
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Probably the best article I’ve read on retiring in Malaysia. 6 more years to go before retiring from US government service. Looking forward to retiring there, probably around KL (wife’s preference even though I like Penang).
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Thanks for your kind words, and congratulations on nearing retirement!
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Dear Cimeron,
Thank you for your article, I am French, I have been retired in Malaysia for one year, I spent so many unexpected good times, I am so pleased to live in Sarawak here, everything is easy people are so welcoming, So friendly, they are honest, courageous, hard workers, .. And Sarawak is large, with sea, jungle, wildlife, many local communities mixed with Chinese and Malay people . I have my 4×4 to go in the jungle, swimming pool gym, spa in the condo there are 3 golfs around,, I joined a ping pong club, I get pretty good massages by blind people , I got some aesthetic recovery, everything is easy and the service is really good, there is complete security, driving is safe and easy, one hour to get the Malaysian driving licence, 2 monthes to get the resident visa (mm2h), I am just missing time to go fishing and visit the country, there are so many neighbor countries to visit too (Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia…..). Just don’t forget to smile, as anybody will smile
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I have an MM2H for Sarawak. I got it in less than 2 month which is considered very fast. Please be advised that as of the Summer of 2019, the Malaysian government no longer accepts reciprocal driver’s licenses. That is, you cannot trade your foreign driver’s licence for a Malaysian driver’s lic. However, you can get an International Driving Permit and use your foreign driver’s lic. with it.
Also, be aware that there are few foreign expats who actually live in Sarawak. They rather spend their holidays there because it is less populated and has more natural amenities, IE. a plethora of national parks.
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Hi John,
Welcome in Sarawak !
Yes, there are few foreigners here, i was not looking for foreigners (if i want to leave with western people i travel to West …) but i met some of them and the ones i met are really interesting persons, as Jerry, an American anthropologist who animates a Facebook page “Sarawak My Second Home Group”. Jerry is a living library, he has such a knowledge in so many domains….
Yes, there will be more constraints to get MM2H visa in some future, and we cannot get the Malaysian driver’s license anymore; anyway i have mine for 3 more years. I drove for 10.000 km in Sarawak, driving is safe, other drivers are careful (and do not drive too fast), i didn’t get any fine, and police is kind with foreign people.But local people use to park anywhere !
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Great article. I moved to Malaysia 3 years under the MM2H scheme and its one of the best things I have done. My family and I are enjoying living here everyday! The education system is superb and the choice of International schools fits all backgrounds. There are some negatives of course, nowhere is going to be perfect. One is of course family not being close by – but its a great excuse for a holiday for them.
Cheers, Adam
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hi, we are planing to travel with our kids for a year or two starting next fall. We want to move around 1-2 months each city and Penang is one on our list. We visited it 6 years ago and loved it. What we can not find on internet is the local school or Chinese school I can put my kids in part time so they can learn the Language. I am so happy i came across your blog. Do you know any expat that send their kids to local/chinese schools? We plan to home school (or they call it world school, i guess) so this will be either supplement or just when we are in Penang.
Thanks, 🙂
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There are lots of Chinese schools around Penang. Just search on Mandarin school Penang and you’ll find a ton. One that I know if is called Mandarin Pie, created and run by my friend Lilian. Everyone loves her school. Hope that helps!
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